Traffic aware lane determination for human driver and autonomous vehicle driving system

A method for determining lane congestion information among a plurality of vehicles on a multi-lane road, comprising:

• receiving, through a user input of a user device, a driving destination;
• receiving, through a wireless radio of the user device, vehicle data of a second vehicle within a vehicle awareness zone relative to a first vehicle containing the user device, wherein the vehicle data includes vehicle type data and navigation data, wherein the navigation data is based on at least one of a driving destination, road map data, and lane obstruction data;
• and
• determining whether a lane recommendation is needed for the first vehicle based on the vehicle data of the second vehicle.

A system for determining lane congestion information among a plurality of vehicles on a multi-lane road, comprising:

• a first database including navigation data pertaining to a geographical area;
• a processor configured to receive navigation data from a user device in a first vehicle;
• and
• a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program coupled to said processor to:
• compare the navigation data of the first vehicle with the navigation data stored in said first database;
• switch, in at least one of the user device and a remote server, between a first mode that provides a lane recommendation based on vehicle data of the vehicles ahead of the first vehicle within the lane the first vehicle is traveling, and a second mode that provides a lane recommendation based on traffic conditions ahead of the first vehicle in a plurality of lanes, the lane recommendation in the second mode including a ranking of lanes based on a travel time estimate for each drivable lane wherein vehicle data includes at least navigation data;
• and
• send the lane recommendation to the user device in the first vehicle.

A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for providing a lane recommendation to a user in a first vehicle, the computer program product comprising programming instructions causing a coupled processor to:

• receive navigation data of a first vehicle;
• sense a presence of a user device in a second vehicle within a vehicle awareness zone relative to the first vehicle;
• receive vehicle data of the second vehicle;
• transmit the vehicle data of the second vehicle to a remote server using a coupled wireless radio;
• and
• determine, in at least one of the user device and the remote server, a lane recommendation in a first mode based on vehicle data of the vehicles ahead of the first vehicle within the lane the first vehicle is travelling or in a second mode based on vehicle data of the vehicles ahead of the first vehicle in a plurality of lanes wherein each respective lane is ranked based on a travel time for each lane wherein vehicle data includes at least navigation data.