The government is mulling an expansion of the pilot autonomous vehicles trial in North Lantau to the Cyberport in Pok Fu Lam, as the Transport and Logistics Bureau expects the technology to be applied in selected communities within the next one to two years.
During a Legislative Council meeting yesterday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan stated the Bureau has already issued two pilot licenses, authorizing 12 self-driving vehicles to conduct tests in North Lantau and the West Kowloon Cultural District, respectively.
She noted that the North Lantau trial, which began at the end of last year, has made significant progress in just five months.
Key breakthroughs include expanding the test scale from single-vehicle operations to ten vehicles running simultaneously to collect data of multiple vehicles running in parallel and carrying passengers on designated routes after safety assessments.
As for the West Kowloon Cultural District, Chan indicated that the authority will trial autonomous light buses adapted for Hong Kong's left-hand traffic system.
Once the autonomous system is developed and proven safe, passenger trials will be conducted on public roads in that area, she said.
Based on current progress, Chan anticipates that the application of autonomous vehicles will be promoted in selected communities within the next one to two years.
She revealed that the authority is actively pursuing other proposals, including operating autonomous light buses running between the Hong Kong Science Park and MTR University Station, as well as an autonomous transportation system connecting the SKYCITY at Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong Port Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
