Transport Department Expands Autonomous Vehicle Trial Routes in North Lantau for Enhanced Testing and Data Collection.

Transport Department approves route expansion for pilot autonomous vehicles trial in North Lantau

The Transport Department (TD) announced today (April 30) that a pilot licence for autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been updated in accordance with section 20(3)(b) of the Road Traffic (Autonomous Vehicles) Regulation (Cap. 374AA) to expand the routes for the AV trial in North Lantau.

The applicant has been approved to conduct trials for 10 AVs at a specified time on specified road sections. The expanded routes cover Cheong Hing Road, Second Sky Street, Airport Expo Boulevard, Tung Yiu Road, Tung Fai Road, Kwo Lo Wan Road, Catering Road West, Catering Road East, Chun Wan Road Interchange, Chun Wan Road, Chun Yue Road, Chun Wan Road South, Chun Ping Road, Chek Lap Kok South Road, Airport South Interchange, Airport Road, Cheong Hong Road, Cheong Shun Road, Cheong Lin Road and South Perimeter Road. As for the road sections between Hong Kong International Airport Car Park 4 and Chek Lap Kok South Road approved earlier, the applicant has completed the open road tests without passengers and is proceeding with the trial with designated passengers.

A spokesman for the TD said that the applicant has been conducting AV road tests in North Lantau since December 2024. To date, the trial operation has been generally smooth as the AVs demonstrated stable performance when navigating and sharing different road scenarios with other vehicles, achieving highly automated driving (level 4 under international standards). This means the vehicles can continuously perform all dynamic driving tasks under specific operational conditions and automatically execute minimal risk strategies, a technical level comparable to that of the Mainland and other parts of the world. During the trial period, trained in-vehicle backup operators were stationed on the AVs to take over their control whenever necessary. From mid-February 2025, the number of AVs operating in each test increased from one to five, and is further increased to 10 under this updated licence, so that more useful data can be collected.

The TD's label for pilot AV shall be displayed on all pilot AVs for identification by other road users. Details of the pilot licence have been uploaded to the TD's website on AV trials.

The TD welcomes interested organisations or enterprises to submit applications and act in concert to promote the further development of autonomous driving in Hong Kong. Upon receipt of an application for a pilot licence, the TD will consider various factors including the design operating range and functions of the autonomous system submitted by the applicant, relevant international or national standards/guidelines, and the road test situations, based on the Code of Practice for Trial and Pilot Use of Autonomous Vehicles before approval. The TD will exercise stringent control with a view to promoting AV trials in Hong Kong in a safe and orderly manner.

Transport Department approves route expansion for pilot autonomous vehicles trial in North Lantau Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Police National Security Department charges two men and arrests one woman

The National Security Department (NSD) of the Hong Kong Police Force arrested a 26-year-old woman on December 12 night for being suspected of committing the offence of “unlawful drilling” under Section 13 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, in connection with the enforcement operation conducted on December 11.

Regarding the nine persons arrested earlier, NSD has laid charge against two of the men, aged 24 and 25, jointly with one count of "conspiracy to commit subversion". The case will be mentioned at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (December 15) morning.

The arrested woman and other arrestees were released on bail and are required to report back to the Police in mid-January 2026.

Investigation revealed that a syndicate has been conducting unlawful drilling inside a unit of an industrial building in Kowloon. The training content includes firearms drills, knife techniques and combat techniques. Police conducted searches at the unit suspected of being used for unlawful drilling and seized offensive weapons associated with the unlawful drilling.

Police remind members of the public that "conspiracy to commit subversion" is a serious offence. Offenders shall be liable to imprisonment for more than 10 years on first conviction. Members of the public are urged not to defy the law.

Source: AI-found images