Microsoft is now all set to help car drivers avoid traffic jams. The software giant is launching a software technology called "Clearflow" for its website (http://maps.live.com/) that helps users with driving directions, to now avoid traffic jams as well.

This technology has been under development for over the past five years by a group of artificial-intelligence researchers at Microsoft's Research lab.

Clearflow is an ambitious attempt to apply machine-learning techniques to the problem of traffic congestion. The system is intended to reflect the complex traffic interactions that occur as traffic backs up on freeways and spills over onto city streets, reports NewYork Times.

Taking into account details such as sporting events, current weather, and the time of day, the service will guide drivers to reach their destinations in the shortest amount of time.

Once launched, Clearflow will be available through Microsoft's maps.live.com service and would support around 72 cities in the US. Further details including the official launch date is not yet available.

With this, Microsoft seems to be trying to compete with Google, that also offers similar mapping services.