The Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government stated in an interview with the government news website on the 11th that six pilot licenses for autonomous vehicles have been issued since 2024 to promote the landing and development of related technologies in Hong Kong. At present, the approved pilot operator has conducted extensive road testing in multiple designated areas and made significant progress in dealing with complex road conditions and technological iteration. It is reported that the first licensed intelligent driving technology company has over ten years of experience in autonomous driving research and development. The company started testing in North Lantau Island, Hong Kong at the end of 2024, and gradually expanded its application scenarios to Cyberport and Kai Tak Development Zone. As of now, the cumulative safe driving mileage has exceeded 80000 kilometers. The Transport Department stated that starting from December 2025, the company's testing scope will be expanded to Kwun Tong and Kowloon City. Despite the dense population and challenging road conditions in Hong Kong's urban areas, the test vehicles demonstrated extremely high stability during driving thanks to advanced algorithms. The vehicle is capable of autonomously completing standard driving actions such as lighting warning lights, obstacle avoidance, lane changing, and U-turns, and operates smoothly throughout the entire journey. During the testing period, although the backup operator was sitting in the driver's seat, their hands were off the steering wheel and they were only prepared to take over the vehicle when necessary. Liu Wenpeng, Hong Kong Project Development Manager of Intelligent Driving Technology Company, said that Hong Kong, as one of the cities with the most dense road network in the world, its complex and changeable road conditions provided a valuable scene for the localization and optimization of auto drive system. Deng Jianliang, an electromechanical engineer (autonomous driving vehicles) at the Transport Department, stated that the testing project has been operating smoothly so far and has achieved "four major technological breakthroughs" in the North Lantau project, including simultaneous operation of multiple vehicles, non-commercial passenger transport, expansion of testing scope, and speed increase. At present, the scale of autonomous driving fleets has expanded from a single vehicle to 10 vehicles operating simultaneously, and the speed limit of some test sections has been raised to 50 kilometers per hour. The testing range has also extended from relatively simple airport islands to more complex highways and residential areas. As of now, the six pilot licenses issued by the Transport Department cover 62 autonomous private cars and minibuses. Deng Jianliang stated that the department plans to gradually promote autonomous driving towards the "unmanned" stage this year, which will only retain remote backup operators and no longer have on-board safety officers. (New Society)