When was the last time you were sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, eyeing the next exit a mile or so up the road, and wondering if a detour off the highway may actually get you to your destination faster?

Predictive traffic company Inrix (a Red Herring 100 N.A. 2006 winner) wants to help you figure out the best route using your mobile phone.

Inrix, known for feeding its real-time and predictive traffic information to online and TV newscasters, on Tuesday announced the release of predictive traffic software for Windows Mobile devices in 60 U.S. metropolitan markets.

Still, there’s tough competition in the predictive traffic market. Mapmaker Navteq announced in July that it will license technology from Inrix’s rival Landsonar. But mapmaker Tele Atlas announced earlier a deal to use Inrix’s technology (see Navteq Takes the License Route; Inrix Inks Tele Altas Deal).