The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, embarked on a two-day visit to Shenzhen today (July 19) to better understand the latest developments in traffic and transport management, and the autonomous vehicles (AVs) there.
In the morning, he called on member of the Party members group of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government Mr Zhang Liwei. They exchanged views on how to accelerate the interconnection of the transport networks of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), strengthen co-operation in promoting smart transport, and co-ordinate the regulations and benchmarks of AVs in the two cities.
Mr Lam then called on the Chief of the Office of Port of Entry and Exit of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, Mr Wang Gang. Mr Lam was updated on the planning and construction of the new Huanggang Port and exchanged views on further facilitating and enhancing cross-boundary traffic and transport at various boundary control points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen with Mr Wang.
In the afternoon, Mr Lam visited the Shenzhen Transportation Operation Command Center, where he was briefed by Deputy Director General of the Transport Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipality (Ports Administration of Shenzhen Municipality) Mr Xu Wei. Mr Lam learned about the city's innovative traffic and transport management model and integrated traffic monitoring platform which have greatly enhanced the effectiveness of traffic operation and management, and reduced the workload of manual inspections through intelligent traffic management, thereby improving both road safety and alleviating the traffic congestion situation.
He then visited the headquarters of Huawei, a provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices, in Shenzhen. Mr Lam toured an exhibition hall which showcased the company's digital transformation and was briefed by a Huawei representative on the functionalities and technological development of its integrated smart traffic control platform.
"To meet the growing cross-boundary transport and mobility needs, facilitate deep integration within the GBA and promote coordinated regional economic development, it is necessary to further enhance the interconnection and interoperability of the transport network in the region. Shenzhen has valuable experience in smart mobility which Hong Kong should learn from and leverage on," Mr Lam said.
The Transport Department (TD) commenced the Traffic and Transport Strategy Study (TTSS) in December 2021 to formulate a forward-looking long-term transport strategy. The TTSS includes exploring the promotion of development of AVs and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies in Hong Kong, with a view to paving the way for more flexible and intelligent traffic management in the future.
"The TD has recently put forward four transport strategy concepts of the TTSS, including 'Promoting the Development of AVs', and will progressively take forward various pilot schemes next year, with a view to promulgating a Transport Strategy Blueprint in 2025, which aims to build a transport system that is reliable, safe, smart, environmentally friendly and highly efficient. We will suitably apply Shenzhen's experience in smart mobility in the light of the actual situation in Hong Kong to enhance our Transport Strategy Blueprint," Mr Lam added.
He will continue his visit to Shenzhen tomorrow (July 20) to learn more about the operation of AVs and the supporting facilities in various parts of Shenzhen.
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