Hong Kong’s smart mobility push sparks fresh investment in green modes of transport including sky shuttles, hydrogen buses and robot trucks

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The smart mobility segment of Hong Kong’s Smart City initiative includes the development of an intelligent transport system. Illustration: Dennis Wong

Lam indicated that the city is currently looking at the feasibility of deploying autonomous vehicles, each with space for more than 10 people, to serve certain fixed routes like mini buses, with trials to start this year.

Li Liangliang (R1), the Director of the BYD Light Rail Transit Institute speak during Tomorrow in Motion: Transforming Hong Kong’s Smart Mobility Landscape on Friday 1 March, 2024. Photo: SCMP Live

The city’s recent smart mobility efforts underscore the government’s plan to achieve cheaper, faster and environmentally friendly travel in the city, while integrating existing modes of public and private transport with advances in the sector.

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At Friday’s Smart Mobility Forum, InvestHK head of innovation and technology Andy Wong said the Hong Kong government had already launched policies and programmes – including the Green Tech Fund and New Energy Transport Fund – to help develop the city’s green and smart transport infrastructure.

The director of BYD’s Light Rail Transit Institute, Li Liangliang, said the city’s plan for sky shuttles – electric-powered, elevated driverless rail transit systems – would cover areas where subways cannot be built.
Andy Wong, head of innovation and technology at InvestHK, speaks at the Smart Mobility Forum held at the JW Marriott Hotel on March 1, 2024. Photo: SCMP Live
Samuel Sun, a senior vice-president at Westwell Technology, described Hong Kong as an ideal place for establishing smart transport projects.
Westwell, a Shanghai-based artificial intelligence-focused logistics company, has already put driverless trucks in use at Hong Kong’s port.

Sun pointed out that Hong Kong serves as “the most important transport hub in the entire Asia-Pacific region”.

Azapa, a Japanese solutions supplier for EVs, is currently seeking local partners in Hong Kong for joint projects, according to Yang Weijia, the firm’s director of business planning.

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At the same forum, Alec Curley, a director at consultancy Jacobs, said Hong Kong is already the “envy” of most parts of the world in terms of public transport.

Still, the city must step up development of new infrastructure to achieve its smart mobility aspirations, according to Dennis Cheung, a director at Beijing-based UISEE Technologies. The firm has targeted use of its autonomous driving technology at the Hong Kong airport.

To be sure, the city needs additional and more powerful charging facilities to encourage greater EV adoption, according to Jake Tse, general manager of energy management at NaaS, China’s leading charging service provider.

The Hong Kong government will cease the new registration of petrol and hybrid vehicles by 2035. As of December 2023, the city had 76,395 EVs, which made up about 8.3 per cent of the total number of vehicles in the market, according to data from the Environmental Protection Department.

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