Patent ID: 8897948

Claim:
A method for estimating local traffic flow, comprising steps of: determining, by a vehicle computing device of a vehicle, a driving habit of a user from historical data, wherein the driving habit includes a headway gap the user prefers and a preferred lateral gap that the user prefers in order to change lanes, wherein the headway gap that the user prefers is combined with a speed gap to determine a longitudinal mobility factor, wherein the speed gap is a function of a speed the user prefers and a current vehicle speed; determining, by the vehicle computing device, a current location of the vehicle that the user is driving; determining, by the vehicle computing device, a current driving condition for the vehicle; predicting by the vehicle computing device, a desired driving condition from the driving habit and the current location; comparing, by the vehicle computing device, the desired driving condition with the current driving condition to determine a traffic congestion level; and sending a signal, by the vehicle computing device, to a different vehicle that will enter the current location of the vehicle, wherein the signal indicates the traffic congestion level.