General Motors has announced a partnership with the trendy, personal transport company Segway to build a two-wheeled vehicle designed to relieve congested urban conditions.

Dubbed Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility or PUMA, the unit was described by Automotive News as looking like "a phone booth, or perhaps a baby stroller."

PUMA uses a lithium-ion battery to power dual electric wheel motors. It has on-board technology to communicate with other vehicles and with surrounding infrastructure. The top speed is 35 mph and the range is 35 miles on a single charge.

Two passengers can sit snugly in the cockpit. The cost of owning a PUMA is figured at roughly a quarter to a third that of buying a conventional mid-sized car. GM anticipates that the ease with which the PUMA can be parked will be a major selling point.

The concept is based on the idea that many vehicles today are "over-engineered" for the given driving situation. "It's not replacing vehicles as we know them -- it's complementing them in an urban environment," said Chris Borroni-Bird, director of GM's advance technology vehicle concepts department.

Currently research with the PUMA is underway in New York City with a full-working concept anticipated in 2010. Initial launch will likely occur in Europe where public perception and laws are more friendly to alternative form-factor means of transportation.