UST: News

The efforts to introduce SkyWay into the market are not limited to the construction of test sections and certification of SkyWay systems, but also involve a broad spectrum of activity, directed at the formation of demand for the proposed solutions, as well as the strategy and tactics of their implementation. Exhibition activities play a significant role in this regard. Their geography should be maximally extended. Berlin and Minsk marked the beginning of the progress in this direction. They were followed by an environmental forum in Rome and the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in Melbourne, where the presentation of the technology was conducted by our Australian SkyWay partner, Director of "SkyWay Transport Australia", former CEO of the Transport Department of South Australia Rod Hook.

"The main subject of the Congress was fully automated, driverless vehicles," - comments the event Mr. Hook. "It may seem paradoxically, - he says at the end of the Congress, - but SkyWay has already occupied this niche with its fully automated rolling stock. In addition, we will operate our system on a separate rail structure, avoiding many of the problems that cars without drivers will face on urban roads".

The participation in the Congress was of strategic importance for Australian SkyWay partners. On the one hand, they received the opportunity to assert themselves as a company operating in the promising segment of the transport market. On the other hand, they have presented the technology in a broader implementation plan that is not limited by urban transport infrastructure. Therefore, according to Rod Hook, the advantages of SkyWay transport systems allow to speak about them not simply as a new mode of transport, but as the basis for the formation of a new approach to the exploration and development of the territories, which is especially important for modern Australia.

"Australia is a big country with a dispersed population of low density," explains Rod Hook. "The area of Australia is more than 75% of the area of Europe, but its population is only about 3% of the population of the latter. The vast majority of Australia's population live along the Eastern coast of the country, in the corridor between the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The Northern part of Australia, about a third of the country, is located in the tropics, where only about 1 million people live, accounting for only about 5% of the population. The region has a huge potential for economic growth. It has such a great potential, which can provide food and other resources to the ever-growing population of the ASEAN region."

The government recognized the potential of Northern Australia. In this connection, our coalition government has even created the post of the Minister for Northern Australia. The Ministry is funded by the Infrastructure Fund of Northern Australia (Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, abbreviated as NAIF) in the amount of $ 5 billion. Beginning from 2016-17 NAIF will offer within five years up to $ 5 billion in preferential credits to encourage and complement investments in the infrastructure of Northern Australia.

After SkyWay will ensure its presence in Australia, SkyWay Transport Australia Co. will have all the possibilities to contribute to the potential growth of this region.

Rod Hook spoke earlier in detail about the plans on implementing SkyWay transportation systems in the region's infrastructure at the conference on the results of InnoTrans 2016 trade fair in Berlin: