Six pilot self-driving vehicle licences have been issued since 2024 to promote the development of related technologies in Hong Kong, the Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said in an interview with the government news website Tuesday. At present, the approved pilot operators have carried out extensive road tests in a number of designated areas, and have made significant progress in complex road response and technical iterations.
It is reported that the first licensed intelligent driving technology company has more than 10 years of experience in autonomous driving research and development. The company started testing in North Lantau, Hong Kong at the end of 2024, and then gradually expanded to Cyberport and Kai Tak development areas. So far, the company has logged more than 80,000 kilometres of safe driving.
From December 2025, the transport department said, the company will extend its testing to Kwun Tong and Kowloon City. Despite the high density of people and vehicles in the urban area of Hong Kong, the road conditions are extremely challenging, but the test vehicle relies on advanced algorithms to show high stability during driving. The vehicle can autonomously complete standard driving actions such as light warning, obstacle avoidance, lane change and U-turn, and the whole operation is smooth. During the test, the backup operator sits in the driver’s seat but takes his hands off the steering wheel and is only prepared to take over the vehicle if necessary.
Liu Wenpeng, Hong Kong project development manager of the smart driving technology company, said that as one of the most densely connected cities in the world, its complex and changeable road conditions provide a valuable scenario for the localization optimization of the autopilot system.
Mechanical and electrical engineer (self-driving vehicles) of the transport department, Tang Kin-leung, said that the testing project had run smoothly so far, and in the North Lantau project to achieve a multi-vehicle simultaneous operation, non-commercial passenger, test range expansion and speed up the“Four major technological leaps.”. At present, the size of the self-driving fleet has been expanded from a single vehicle to 10 vehicles operating at the same time, and the speed limit on some test sections has been raised to 50 kilometers per hour, the range has also expanded from the relatively simple airport island to more complex roads and residential areas.
So far, 62 self-driving private cars and minibuses have been licensed under the 6 pilot licences issued by the Transport Department. Tang said the department planned to gradually move towards the“Unmanned” phase of autonomous driving this year, with only remote backup operators remaining and no more onboard safety guards.