A system and a method configured for managing traffic. The traffic management system includes cellular telephones and a plurality of base stations. The cellular telephones define volume on a roadway and the traffic management system provides directions, traffic advisories, and traffic redirecting when traffic jams are detected along the navigation pathway using the cellular telephone system. Directions are communicated to the cellular telephone user by aural, tactile, and visual signals. The system can simply be a cellular telephone system or include additional peripheral devices such as a computer, headphone, visual display, and sound system. The user is able to redefine the desired destination or navigation pathway while en route by knowing traffic volume from cell phone use. A processing system is coupled to at least one of the base stations and provides service support including the tracking of historical data and developing the navigation pathway for the user. The method includes providing a traffic management system having a plurality of base stations connected to at least one processing station and a plurality of cellular telephone users, the traffic management system being suitable for identifying traffic congestion based on monitoring cellular telephone traffic. The processing station defines a navigation pathway and provides ongoing directional instructions regarding the pathway and any ensuing congestion.