A method for identifying traffic information includes receiving traffic data including a first identifier, information that is encoded, and information corresponding to a field indicative of an encoding scheme. The first identifier enables a determination of a type of information that is included within the received traffic data. The method also includes determining a type of information included within the received traffic data based on the first identifier and determining encoding information based on the field indicative of an encoding scheme included in the received traffic data only if the first identifier enables a determination that the received traffic data includes a field indicative of an encoding scheme. The method further includes identifying the information that is encoded based on the determined encoding information.