Weather + Traffic = Revenue

Every speed dating conversation we've had can be used as proof: people love talking about weather and traffic. Which is why Fairfax, Va.-based TrafficLand has had a flurry of announcements this month. The company, which aggregates live traffic video from 18,000 cameras in 200 cities, is now working with Global Weather Corp to market a service combing hyper-local forecasts of road and weather. The company has also announced that it’s providing content to WeatherBug’s mobile app. TrafficLand revenue hovers between $5M to $10M and will grow dramatically in the next three years with the advent of in-car systems, says CEO Larry Nelson.

Larry says the next 18 months will be interesting as TrafficLand works with the car industry on providing traffic and weather content to the 4G platform getting ready to go in cars. The company’s partnership with Exelis allows it to provide analytics like current ground-level weather and road conditions. Exelis has a division that builds software that can determine weather conditions based on TrafficLand’s video stream and deliver that info immediately. Cars will be much like smartphones, Larry adds, where consumers will be able to download the apps they want, including navigation tools with real-time local traffic camera video. (Without traffic time, get ready for more men with crooked ties and women without makeup.)