Daily users of vehicular networks travel from home to work,
hoping to reach their destination within an estimated time.
For this purpose, they make individual decisions about which
routes to follow with no updated information about traffic,
which leads to an unbalanced use of the roads. However, a
more balanced vehicle distribution is of collective interest,
since it tends to reduce average trip times, benefitting the
system as a whole. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and
WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) [1] can
assist drivers in making faster, safer trips and reducing the
negative effects of traffic congestion on the roads.
This paper aims to answer the following question: how
to identify and minimize traffic congestion using vehicular
networks? This problem can be divided into the following
steps: (i) identifying a traffic jam; (ii) achieving a collaborative
estimate of congestion levels, to (iii) relay information about
the current traffic situation; and (iv) using policies to suggest
new routes, reducing congestion levels.