Patent ID: 8204688

Claim:
In a navigation system having a user display for assisting a person in a vehicle traveling from a first location to a second location, a method for providing updated traffic-related information to the person comprising: acquiring a first traffic information report including traffic-related information from an information supplier; using the traffic-related information from the first traffic information report to determine a travel route for the vehicle from the first location to the second location; displaying the travel route to the person via the user display; acquiring a second traffic information report including traffic-related information from the information supplier while the vehicle is traveling on the travel route; determining whether the second traffic information report includes updated traffic-related information; discarding the traffic-related information from the second traffic information report, when the second traffic information report does not include updated traffic-related information; and automatically determining, when the second traffic information report includes updated traffic-related information, whether the travel route is a preferred route from a current location of the vehicle to the second location, comprising: determining the current location of the vehicle on the travel route; using the updated traffic-related information to determine an alternate travel route for the vehicle from the current location to the second location; determining first and second times, respectively, that it would take the vehicle to travel from the current location to the second location via the travel route and the alternate travel route; comparing the first and second times; and displaying the alternate travel route to the person via the user display if at least the second time is less than the first time and the person indicates a desire to have the alternate travel route displayed.