A system and method for enabling wireless traffic message passing. The method includes initializing a vehicle wireless subsystem and a highway wireless subsystem, enabling a vehicle transponder to broadcast a query to request real-time traffic pattern data, and if a response to the query has been received, incorporating the real-time traffic pattern data into a runtime database and creating a human-readable display for displaying the runtime database on a navigation system. The human-readable display of the traffic pattern data includes the display of free-flowing traffic, slow moving traffic, and stopped traffic on a map to allow the driver to change a planned travel route if slow and stopped traffic pattern conditions exit on the planned travel route.