Occupancy Based Navigation System

A vehicle comprising:

• a memory configured to store map data including a plurality of HOV lane sections and a plurality of non-HOV lane sections;
• a transceiver configured to receive location data associated with the vehicle, and traffic data associated with each of the HOV lane sections and the non-HOV lane sections;
• a user interface configured to receive an indication that the vehicle has access to HOV lanes;
• a display configured to display a route;
• and
• a processor connected to the transceiver, the user interface, the display, and the memory, the processor configured to:
• determine a current location of the vehicle based on the location data,
• determine, at a first time, a plurality of HOV lane sections within proximity of the current location of the vehicle based on the map data,
• determine a fastest HOV lane route based on the traffic data, the fastest HOV lane route including an HOV lane section from the plurality of HOV lane sections,
• determine an updated current location of the vehicle based on the location data,
• determine, at a second time after the first time, a plurality of non-HOV lane sections within proximity of the updated current location of the vehicle along the fastest HOV lane route, each non-HOV lane section in the plurality of non-HOV lane sections having a corresponding counterpart HOV lane section,
• determine a non-HOV lane route between the updated current location of the vehicle and the destination, the non-HOV lane route including use of a non-HOV lane section from the plurality of non-HOV lane sections,
• determine whether the non-HOV lane route is faster than the fastest HOV lane route between the updated current location of the vehicle and the destination and the traffic data, and
• communicate an instruction to the display to display the non-HOV lane route when the non-HOV lane route is faster than the HOV lane route.

A method for navigating a vehicle to a destination using a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, the method comprising:

• determining, by a vehicle occupancy unit, vehicle occupancy data;
• receiving, by a transceiver, a location data associated with the vehicle, and traffic data;
• storing, by a memory, map data and HOV lane data indicating HOV lane access criteria;
• determining, by a processor, a current location of the vehicle based on the location data;
• determining, by the processor at a first time, a plurality of HOV lane sections within proximity of the current location of the vehicle based on the map data;
• determining, by the processor, whether the plurality of HOV lane sections are accessible to the vehicle based on the vehicle occupancy data and the HOV lane data;
• when the plurality of HOV lane sections are accessible to the vehicle, determining, by the processor based on the traffic data, a fastest HOV lane route between the current location and a destination, the HOV lane route including an HOV lane section from the plurality of HOV lane sections;
• displaying, by a display, the fastest HOV lane route;
• determining, by the processor, an updated current location of the vehicle based on the location data;
• determining, by the processor, at a second time after the first time, a plurality of non-HOV lane sections within proximity of the updated current location of the vehicle along the fastest HOV lane route, each non-HOV lane section in the plurality of non-HOV lane sections having a corresponding counterpart HOV lane section;
• determining, by the processor, a non-HOV lane route between the updated current location of the vehicle and the destination, the non-HOV lane route including use of a non-HOV lane section from the plurality of non-HOV lane sections;
• determining, by the processor, whether the non-HOV lane route is faster than the fastest HOV lane route between the updated current location of the vehicle and the destination;
• and
• displaying, by the display, the non-HOV lane route when the non-HOV lane route is faster than the fastest HOV lane route.