Hong Kong set to begin commercial self-driving services
Operators can apply starting within 2026, the Transport Department says, after driverless trials at the airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port.
In Hong Kong, driverless vehicles are set to become a part of commercial traffic in the territory's transport hubs. The Transport Department (運輸署) says it will start accepting applications from autonomous-vehicle operators to run individual projects commercially, beginning this year, according to official documents.
Commissioner for Transport Winnie Tse (謝詠誼) set out the plan on Sept. 28 at the third meeting of the department's Autonomous Vehicle Applications Promotion Working Group, citing Hong Kong's first five-year plan and the 2026 Policy Address. It follows driverless trials that began on Airport Island in late July and at the automated car park at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge's Hong Kong Port in mid-September. Tse said commercial operation would provide more convenient and safer travel options to members of the public.
Two projects are also under way. The department will push ahead with the Airportcity Link, an autonomous transport system connecting the bridge's Hong Kong Port with Skycity at the airport. And MTR Corporation (香港鐵路有限公司) and Airport Authority Hong Kong (香港機場管理局) briefed the group on an autonomous-vehicle link for airline and rail passengers between West Kowloon Station and the Airport Express at Kowloon Station, expected to open in the second quarter of 2027.
The release doesn't say what an application must include or which operators can apply.
Sources: HKSAR Government press release (English), 香港特區政府新聞公報 (中文)
