BYD is claiming that its Sky-Rail development represents the best solution for combating severe urban traffic congestion issues which plague many major cities across China. The BYD's Sky-Rail is a transportation alternative that is cheap and accessible to use, has a short construction timeline and its low noise levels make it a short-term, cost-effective solution to traffic congestion.
In addition to this, a spokesman for BYD has claimed that the service can be implemented at one-fifth the cost of a monorail system in one-third of the construction time. Industry analysts have claimed that BYD have marketed the Sky-Rail cleverly by placing it in China's most important 'smart city'. Yinchuan is seen as the blueprint or roadmap for China's intelligent urban development initiative and plans to replicate services it is introducing in Yinchuan in more than 200 other 'smart cities' in China.
China is home to the world's largest population and is 'urbanizing' faster than any other large country in history. Almost 60% of China's population resides in cities which represents a sharp rise from the 26% that was recorded in 1990. It has also been claimed that almost 40,000 people a day move into cities in China. So it's clear that China recognizes the importance of it taking the opportunity to build cities smarter. Many analysts feel BYD is now well-placed to exploit that necessity amongst cities for modern infrastructure that is both 'smart and sustainable'.
BYD's Sky-Rail transportation system also represents the first straddle-type monorail system ever introduced in China. The transit can reach speeds of 80KM/H, but it so quiet it can be routed through buildings.
The inaugural system in Yinchuan is 5.7KM long and encompasses eight different stations and BYD has announced that it plans to extend the route of the monorail system by more than 300KM in the next few years. However, the construction of the Sky-Rail in China's leading 'smart city' only commenced in April, and took just four months to complete. The estimated cost of the innovative project was 600 million yuan ($92 million).
Since BYD announced its Sky-Rail system in October last year, it has conducted a number of feasibility studies in more than 100 cities. It has been reported that construction of more Sky-Rail systems will commence in twenty other Chinese cities next year.