A navigation system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The navigation system includes a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) module onboard the UAV configured to communicate with DSRC modules of land-based vehicles for tracking travel paths of the land-based vehicles and deriving location of roadways based on the travel paths. A flight control module of the UAV is configured to navigate the UAV to follow roadways identified based on the tracked travel paths of the land-based vehicles.