A vehicle navigation system for use with a traffic information broadcast
system which transmits traffic data relating to primary road segments and
a communication system which transmits traffic data relating to road
segments in a local geographic area. A broadcast receiver receives the
broadcast traffic data from the broadcast system and stores the received
data. A communication transmitter, when activated, transmits a data
request to the communication system. A communication receiver receives
the local traffic data from the communication system in response to the
data request while a processor displays traffic information on a display
screen corresponding to the received broadcast traffic data and the
received local traffic data. The local traffic data includes both traffic
information relating to local road segments as well as non-traffic
temporal events, such as weather, and time-related events which affect
traffic flow. A database of historic traffic flow for the road segments
is periodically updated to reflect new traffic data.