시역_모빌리티_김한솔

[김한솔]

홍콩 교통부 장관의 스마트 모빌리티 포럼 연설문입니다.

1.    the Smart Mobility Forum – 포럼 제목

2.    the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong 2.0 – 이니셔티브 이름

3.    cable funicular – 케이블카

4.    the Octopus- 교통 카드

5.    the Traffic Data Analytics System -교통관리 시스템

May I start by commending Invest Hong Kong for organising the Smart Mobility Forum here today. This forum provides an invaluable opportunity for different stakeholders, including policymakers and industry leaders, to sit together, have a chat, and think about the future of Hong Kong's smart mobility landscape. It is my pleasure to be here with you today and share my thoughts on the subject.

In recent years, the development of smart cities has become a global trend. Many cities have been making greater efforts towards this end. What we could do to make the transportation and commuting experience safer, smarter and greener has been an important question that I hold dear to my heart. Under the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong 2.0 published in 2020, it is the Government's ambition to embrace innovation and technology to build a world-renowned smart Hong Kong, characterised by a strong economy and high quality of living. Transportation, as an integral part of our daily lives, plays a vital role in improving the economic well-being of Hong Kong. To this end, smart mobility is particularly critical to the smart city development.

I am an engineer by training and I have been practicing engineering for over 40 years. Whenever I come across and go deep into smart mobility, the imagination and crazy ideas always keep me, an engineer, awake for a whole night. Hong Kong is a small and densely populated city with ever-increasing transport and traffic demands. Over the years, we have taken pride in our highly efficient road and railway networks, which have been able to handle over 12 million public transport trips every day. By leveraging on innovation and technology, and making reference to the experience of Mainland and overseas cities, smart mobility development enables more-effective traffic management, facilitates journeys of the public, and makes the best use of public transport. Not only do these alleviate road traffic congestion and reduce overall carbon emissions, but also protect the environment and promote sustainable development in Hong Kong.

The success of Hong Kong's public transport system is attributed to the collaborative and enduring efforts of the Government and various stakeholders who, throughout the development history, have consistently embraced innovation. To name just a few, we had Asia's first cable funicular, the Peak Tram, in 1888. In the 1970's, we developed Southeast Asia's first Area Traffic Control System, and in 1997, the Octopus was put into the market, which set a model for contactless payment for many other cities. When we talked about the area traffic control, I remember when I worked in the Transport Department, the Government sent its first batch of locally trained engineers working in the Government to the UK (United Kingdom) to receive  training in advanced traffic and transport management. After that, the area traffic control took root in Hong Kong. No doubt, these examples could all be considered as smart mobility initiatives when they were first introduced many years ago. However, innovation is a never ending journey of pushing the limits and exploring new frontiers. We shall never be complacent about what we have already achieved. Transportation, in particular, calls for constant innovations. Continuing to expand our physical transportation infrastructure might be one possible way out in the short run, but we all know that it is definitely not a sustainable solution, given the limited size of Hong Kong. To propel the efficiency of our transportation system to new heights, we must seek innovative solutions that can address our future needs, and the Government has been sparing no effort in implementing various smart mobility initiatives since the release of the Smart Mobility Roadmap for Hong Kong in 2019.

Harnessing big data is the key to success for many businesses, and it is also crucial for supporting our smart mobility initiatives. To enhance traffic management and transport efficiency through the application of big data analytics, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Transport Department, with the assistance of the Hong Kong Observatory, jointly developed the Traffic Data Analytics System, which is a model with a good range of historical and instantaneous data including the amounts of rainfall, traffic incidents, and journey times of different road sections of Hong Kong. The model can then produce forecast of a journey time in the coming 90-minute period, taking into account factors of traffic and weather conditions. This keeps road users informed of the road traffic and weather conditions, and assists them in better planning their routes ahead. In case traffic congestion happens at a certain road section, road users will be able to get early alerts and prepare alternative route plans. Meanwhile, the big data collected and analysed by the Traffic Data Analytics System also helps strengthen the Transport Department's ability in preparing for traffic management and contingency measures. 
Another smart mobility initiative is to facilitate technological advancement and industry development of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and autonomous vehicles (AVs) with a vision to realise wider trials and use of AVs on public roads in Hong Kong. AV technology has developed rapidly in recent years and trials have been carried out around the world. This new mode of transport could bring huge benefits to us, such as promoting road safety, avoiding traffic congestion, enhancing the mobility of citizens, reducing exhaust emissions caused by traffic congestion, etc.
To allow wider and more flexible trials and usage of AVs in Hong Kong, we have recently introduced a suitable and flexible regulatory framework for the use of AVs, at the same time ensuring public safety, paving the way for the long-term development of AVs in Hong Kong. Coincidently, the regulatory framework comes into effect today. We have been continuously promoting the development of Cellular V2X (or C-V2X) technology in Hong Kong. Researches and field trials on public roads have been conducted. Let me try to give a pledge here - by the end of this year, Hong Kong citizens will have the opportunity to experience the first tested AVs on open roads, of course with full insurance coverage. There are many trials happening on the Mainland and other parts of the world.