The Transport Department (TD) today (April 25) said that the trials of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Hong Kong have largely been smooth, demonstrating the city's steady progress in promoting autonomous driving, which is on par with developments on the Mainland and overseas.
 
     The Commissioner for Transport, Miss Winnie Tse, observed one of the trials on Airport Island and took a ride in an autonomous private car to learn more about its progress. Upon approval by the TD, since late February 2026, the trial has extended from Airport Island to Tung Chung and Sunny Bay, and has increased the number of AVs operating simultaneously from 10 to 20 for the passenger-carrying trial on Airport Island, and from three to eight for the Tung Chung trial. During the Airport Island trial, apart from onboard backup operators, remote backup operators have been introduced for the first time, operating the AVs from the remote control centre, with a view to testing the orderly transition to driverless operations, i.e. replacing in-vehicle backup operators with remote backup operators. The Airport Island trial's cumulative mileage has reached about 140 000 kilometres.
 
     Miss Tse said she was pleased to note that the trial's performance across road sections was stable, safe and smooth. AVs shared the roads with other vehicles and complied with road safety rules, such as giving way to pedestrians and stopping in accordance with traffic light signals.
 
     The TD has issued six pilot licences to date, involving the trial of 62 AVs at six locations. The Airport Island trial routes cover a number of roads, public transport interchanges (PTIs) and car parks around the airport, SKYCITY, AsiaWorld-Expo, hotels and the Aircraft Maintenance Area. The additional road sections cover the vicinities of MTR Tung Chung Station, hotels, shopping arcades and up to Sunny Bay PTI via Cheung Tung Road. The remaining locations are the West Kowloon Cultural District, Cyberport in the Southern District, the Kai Tak Development Area in Kowloon East, the Airportcity Link, and the "Park & Fly" carpark at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port.
 
     Chaired by the Commissioner, the Autonomous Vehicle Applications Promotion Working Group will, in collaboration with relevant departments and the industry, review the progress of each AV project; provide steer on the trial locations, vehicle types and licensing arrangements required to support the commercial development of AVs; and explore appropriate regulatory arrangements to allow AVs to provide a certain degree of commercial services in specific areas on an individual pilot basis.
 
     Miss Tse said, "We will accelerate the smooth transition of autonomous driving technology from the research and development testing phase to actual operation, and introduce and drive the industry to commence trials and applications in the community at full speed, so that more members of the public may access and experience the convenience of autonomous driving."

Ends/Saturday, April 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 10:00

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