Patent ID: 7356407

Claim:
Method for identifying a preferred travel route for an operator of a vehicle, comprising: providing a navigation system having a route optimization function incorporating a cohort attribute model; selecting an origin point and a destination point; and, determining a travel route based upon estimated travel time, travel distance and cohort attribute information; wherein providing a navigation system having a route optimization function incorporating a cohort attribute model comprises: A) determining information for a plurality of vehicle operators, including: 1) creating an operator profile for each operator based upon attributes of operator-selected route segments, comprising: a) comparing operator-selected route segments to optimal route segments for a plurality of trips; b) capturing operator-selected route segments divergent from the optimal route segments; and, c) evaluating the operator-selected route segments divergent from the optimal route segments based upon attributes of the operator-selected route segments; and, 2) capturing a plurality of operator profiles, each based upon similarity of attributes of divergent operator-selected route segments; B) determining a plurality of categories of operators, each category defined by attributes of divergent operator-selected route segments; and, C) assigning each operator to one of the plurality of categories, based upon the operator profile.