Hong Kong’s Transport Department (TD) has approved fully driverless trials of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on Airport Island, with in-vehicle backup operators removed following successful remote tests. The decision expands the North Lantau trial, with remote backup operators to be added alongside in-vehicle staff on the Tung Chung and Sunny Bay routes.

Airport Island AV trials previously required both remote control centre operators and in-vehicle backup operators. Having reviewed test reports and conducted site inspections, the TD found no abnormalities and approved removal of in-vehicle staff, citing satisfactory safety, stability, accuracy and smoothness performance.

Winnie Tse, Commissioner for Transport, said the launch of fully remote testing represented an important step toward realising the goals of driverless, scaled-up and commercialised AV operations under Hong Kong’s Policy Address and Transport Strategy Blueprint. She added that she would lead an autonomous vehicle working group co-ordinating efforts with industry and government departments.

Vehicles undergoing driverless trials will carry additional labels to allow drivers and pedestrians to identify them. The TD has invited organisations to apply for AV pilot licences, assessed against operating design domain, relevant standards and road testing conditions.

The update was made under section 20(3)(b) of the Road Traffic (Autonomous Vehicles) Regulation. Updated details are published on the TD’s AV trials website.

Why this matters:

• Fully driverless operations on Airport Island mark a regulatory threshold, not just a technical one.Hong Kong’s Transport Department approving the removal of in-vehicle backup operators—based on documented safety performance across prior remote monitoring trials—represents a formal government determination that the technology meets the bar for unsupervised public road operation, which carries weight beyond the specific trial.
• The phased progression from in-vehicle to remote to fully driverless is a replicable approval model.Hong Kong’s structured step-by-step framework, with each phase being triggered by verifiable safety data rather than arbitrary timelines, offers a template that other regulators in the region may draw on as they develop their own AV governance structures.