Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Siu-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 7):
Question:
There are views that smart motorways are important infrastructure for promoting the application of autonomous driving technology. The Government should, during the initial planning and design stages of the Northern Metropolis (NM), plan for the construction of smart motorways to tie in with the scale of autonomous vehicles and the development for their commercial operation, and should develop NM into a demonstration base for smart transport and autonomous driving. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has estimated the length, in kilometres, of new public roads to be constructed in NM; whether the Government will plan for the construction of smart motorways in NM; if so, of the specific road sections to be covered as well as the relevant technical details and standards; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether the Government will incorporate the vehicle-road-cloud integrated system into the NM development plan and set clear targets (such as achieving a specific coverage in kilometres before 2030); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether it has assessed the requisite vehicle-to-everything and smart road infrastructure for promoting autonomous driving technology at Level 4 or above; whether the authorities will establish standards for the relevant infrastructure; if so, of the specific construction projects, technical specifications and the list of roads expected to be covered in the first phase; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) whether the Government will expedite the promotion of digital transformation of motorways and the construction of smart motorways, as well as set clear targets (such as achieving digitalisation on strategic routes and major motorways before 2035); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government is actively promoting smart mobility and the development of smart motorways, and has been closely monitoring the advancement of autonomous driving technology and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), with a view to further enhancing road safety and transport efficiency.
Having consulted the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), the reply to the question raised by the Member is as follows:
(1) and (4) Under the “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal Corridors” infrastructure layout, the Government is expediting the implementation of major road projects relating to the Northern Metropolis. Based on the estimates of projects currently under construction or in the planning stage, nearly 170 kilometres of new public roads will be constructed in the Northern Metropolis, including approximately 24 kilometres of major roads connecting various development nodes within the Northern Metropolis, as well as approximately 144 kilometres of local road networks within the New Development Areas (NDAs).
In accordance with the recommendations in the Transport Strategy Blueprint, the Government is progressively implementing smart motorway management on major roads, including those within the Northern Metropolis. To this end, the Highways Department (HyD) is carrying out the design for the approximately 24-kilometre-long Northern Metropolis Highway in accordance with smart motorway standards, of which the Northern Metropolis Highway (San Tin Section) is expected to open in 2034, two years ahead of schedule. As for existing major roads, the CEDD is also seizing the opportunity arising from the road widening works of the San Tin Highway (San Tin Section) and the Fanling Highway (Kwu Tung Section) to prioritise the incorporation of smart motorway elements into the approximately 7.4-kilometre road sections, which are expected to be completed in 2031.
The Transport Department (TD) will continue to liaise closely with relevant departments to progressively implement smart motorway management on existing major roads, as well as those at an early planning stage, leveraging technology to enhance the transport efficiency and resilience of the road network. At the same time, to take forward smart motorway management, the TD is updating relevant technical guidelines for reference by the industry, which are expected to be completed within this year. This includes establishing criteria for introducing smart motorways for major roads and the equipment configuration requirements under different application scenarios (such as the Automatic Incident Detection System using AI technology, and the lane control signals and variable message signs required to tie in with various smart motorway applications). As for the local roads within NDAs, the Government will also make good use of new technologies to improve traffic efficiency and enhance the pedestrian environment, such as installing the Real-time Adaptive Traffic Signal System (RTATSS) at suitable new junctions.
In addition, the TD will study the setting up of a Traffic Management Platform that will integrate traffic and transport data, leverage big data analytics and AI technology to predict traffic fluctuations, identify bottlenecks, and formulate contingency plans, thereby assisting in traffic management and transport planning. In the future, the traffic data collected from the implementation of smart motorway management for major roads will be integrated with other traffic data on the Traffic Management Platform to achieve seamless traffic management.
Regarding the digital transformation of highway and bridge infrastructure, the HyD has fully adopted Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology in major road infrastructure projects such as the Central Kowloon Bypass (Yau Ma Tei Section), the Tsing Lung Bridge at the southern end of Route 11, and the Northern Metropolis Highway, to enhance precision and reduce design conflicts. High-precision 3D as-built digital models will also be delivered upon completion of the projects. These digital models will be integrated into the HyD’s asset management information system to establish accurate digital structural records for highways, bridges, and tunnels. Meanwhile, the HyD has introduced the “Digital Twin” technology at the Tsing Ma Bridge, incorporating 3D digital model analysis and enabling real-time monitoring of the traffic load distribution, structural condition and responses of the bridge so as to ensure its structural safety and integrity. The “Digital Twin” technology will be progressively rolled out to other long-span bridges, such as the Kap Shui Mun Bridge as well as other new main bridges (including Tsing Lung Bridge) in Hong Kong. In terms of road maintenance, the HyD is implementing smart inspections through the application of the Road Defect Detection System (RDDS) powered by AI and the Road Condition Assessment System (RCAS) utilising laser scanning technology. These systems automatically identify road defects to replace traditional manual inspections. Additionally, the Road Maintenance Monitoring System (RMMS) is applied to fully digitise the monitoring and administrative work of road maintenance. To expand digital transformation to other road assets, the HyD is initiating a preliminary study on the digital transformation of highway to formulate a roadmap and plan short-, medium-, and long-term work schedules. The study is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2027.
(2) and (3) V2X technology facilitates real-time data exchange between vehicles and their surrounding environments through installation of roadside units, thereby enhancing the ability of autonomous vehicles to cope with more complex traffic conditions. With the gradual development of autonomous driving technology, the current trends of autonomous driving primarily tend toward “single-vehicle intelligence” (i.e. enabling vehicles to achieve autonomous driving capabilities primarily by relying on onboard sensors, such as cameras and radars installed on the vehicle itself). Nevertheless, in terms of planning, the TD will retain flexibility and continue to maintain communication with relevant departments to explore reserving adequate space in NDAs (such as making use of the wider roads and footpaths in the Northern Metropolis) to facilitate the installation of relevant facilities for V2X technology when its development, standards and cost-effectiveness mature.