Microsoft spinoff Inrix is counting on a “smart dust” network and increased demand for its real-time and predictive traffic data to keep it in the fast lane amid.a consolidation wave that has swept the digital mapping industry in recent months.

Inrix rival Traffic.com was acquired in November 2006 for $179 million by publicly traded mapping information supplier NAVTEQ. Meanwhile, in July, Tom Tom, the Dutch maker of navigation devices and an Inrix customer, offered about $2.5 billion for Belgium-based digital map provider Tele Atlas.

Ajay Agarwal, managing director at Bain Capital Ventures and a member of Inrix’s board of directors, said the Traffic.com acquisition highlights the growing importance of traffic data.

“We think every car in American and across the globe will want access to traffic data,” he said. “We’re very early in this market.”

Inrix, based in Kirkland, Washington and backed by Venrock Associates, August Capital, and Bain, has raised about $15 million since July 2004, when it became the first company spun off from the Redmond, Washington, software giant.

The company arose out of a project inside Microsoft to see if it would be possible to predict traffic patterns, said President and Chief Executive Bryan Mistele. A one-time executive at Ford and General Motors, Mr. Mistele launched Inrix after serving as general manager of Microsoft’s automotive group.

Inrix customers include BMW, Garmin, Microsoft, ClearChannel, and Tom Tom as well as TeleNav, which distributes the data on Sprint and AT&T networks.

Traffic information has come far from the days when the local TV or radio station’s helicopter was the primary source, but Americans still remain stalled inside their vehicles. In 2003, the typical American spent 100 hours, or 24.3 minutes per day, commuting to work, according to to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Traffic.com pioneered real time traffic data collection by installing its own network of roadside sensors in metropolitan areas.

Inrix counters by getting inputs from U.S. Department of Transportation sensor networks and adding “smart dust” feeds from global positioning system units aboard truck and taxi fleets. The company combines that data with information on weather, sporting events, school schedules, traffic accidents, and road construction to predict the duration of a particular trip.

Mr. Agarwal said he expects that Inrix’s “capital efficient” smart-dust network eventually will add GPS feeds from passenger cars. That could help the company fend off upstarts like AirSage, an Atlanta-based provider of traffic information that bases its data on anonymous wireless signals from the phones of Sprint/Nextel customers.

“The information we provide is the ultimate in user-generated content,” Mr. Mistele said during a trip to New York City.

Meanwhile, the mobile digital mapping business itself is changing. While some automakers are integrating mapping and traffic devices in their vehicles, In-Stat reported that downloadable navigation software from mobile phones is as good as the best personal navigation devices.

Ultimately, Mr. Agarwal said Inrix could be a buyout target or it could grow to be an IPO candidate.

Mr. Mistele noted that Wall Street investment bankers knock on his door “monthly.”

While Inrix offers real-time traffic information on 94 U.S. metropolitan markets and 12 in the United Kingdom, further international expansion awaits.

The company also offers tantalizing hints of how additional data could be packaged with traffic and how unexpected clients could find a need for the feeds.

For instance, Mr. Agarwal said that Inrix is looking into offering motorists gasoline prices.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mistele said hedge funds have shown an interest in buying traffic data as a way of gaining an edge in economic forecasting.