Self-driving cars in Hong Kong? Trial run of 8 vehicles under way in HK$127 million push
- Transport minister Lam Sai-hung says scheme is showing good progress and matches technology seen in mainland China and abroad
Hong Kong is testing out eight autonomous vehicles under a HK$127 million (US$16.3 million) initiative to advance driverless technologies and other projects, with a minister saying the scheme’s progress matches developments seen in mainland China and overseas.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said on Saturday he expected the public would have more opportunities to try driverless cars in the future and the results so far were promising.
“Among the eight autonomous vehicles currently being tested in Hong Kong, their driverless technology has reached level four of ‘highly automated driving’,” he said, referring to a performance level where a vehicle can handle most driving tasks independently.
The government had so far invested HK$60 million into driverless cars and another HK$67 million into technologies related to the internet of vehicles (IoV) under the Smart Traffic Fund, he said.
IoV refers to a network of connected autonomous vehicles that uses a cloud system to share location data and information on other objects in their surroundings, such as roadside units, pedestrians and buildings.
“The progress of the technological development can be said to be in line with that of mainland China and even other parts of the world,” Lam said.
