Solution providers who spend a considerable amount of time on the road have a new tool in their traffic-avoidance arsenal. Microsoft announced its Clearflow technology, which uses complicated algorithms to predict shifts in traffic, went online on the company's Live Maps Website. Microsoft said the free service, which is currently available for 72 U.S. cities, could help drivers avoid making detours to routes overcrowded due to the original traffic jam. According to a report in The New York Times, Clearflow is the result of a five-year project by Microsoft's artificial intelligence division at Microsoft Research laboratories.

Service developer Eric Horvitz told the Times he got the idea for an intricate mapping system after getting stuck in side streets trying to avoid highway traffic in Seattle. "Everything seemed to be backed up," he said. "It hit me that we had to do all the side streets. We really need to understand the whole city."