There are a lot of things you could with a crystal ball. Identifying the next Super Bowl champion or Microsoft comes to mind as profitable possibilities.

What about predicting traffic? Auto traffic.

Sounds kinda blah.

But that's exactly what a Kirkland, WA startup is doing, predicting traffic in major cities across America, letting employees know how long it will take to get to work and businesses know how long is will take delivery trucks to make their rounds. Days in advance.

Interestingly, Microsoft is helping in a big way. The Redmond giant spent four years and an estimated $20 million on the traffic prediction service. But rather than develop it commercially, Microsoft licensed it...

Auto manufacturers and web portal companies are salivating.

What's the voodoo behind this technology? A complex series of algorithms and calculations that take considerations like the big game, concerts, and planned local events to predict driving patterns...before they happen.

While you can't predict traffic accidents, knowing in advance of heavy traffic has huge benefits. What immediately comes to mind as a business traveler is calculating the time to drive across an unfamiliar town to catch a flight. Knowing a week in advance the drive will take twice as long due to a ball game and road construction, causing primary and alternate route to congest, is huge.

What do you think? Will a service like this work?

via Business 2.0