Wireless navigation and location-based services (LBS) company Networks In Motion (NIM) has acquired real-time traffic information provider TrafficGauge.

Seattle-based TrafficGauge’s expertise will be used in the development of the next generation of NIM’s Traffic Sharing System, in which every driver using NIM’s navigation service helps generate “traffic sharing” information.

NIM says that the first fruits of the TrafficGauge acquisition will be reflected in the next iteration of NIM’s NAVBuilder platform, which provides the basis for carrier-branded navigation applications.

“Knowing traffic conditions such as accidents, construction delays and speeds on possible detours can make a world of difference to a driver,” says Doug Antone, president and chief executive of Networks In Motion. “By acquiring TrafficGauge, NIM will be able to leverage the company’s data-aggregation server technology to further enhance the usability of NIM’s popular navigation applications. This quantum leap in traffic flow accuracy, along with superior information about conditions used when calculating detours, will better meet customer expectations on traffic avoidance.”

Antone insists the acquisition will enhance NIM’s existing services and does not mark a departure from the company’s focus on location-based services for mobile phones. The acquisition does not include TrafficGauge’s hardware devices business, customer base, service contracts or web properties.