China has rolled out a raft of measures to ensure smooth road trips during the upcoming seven-day National Day holiday, including installing charging piles, waiving toll fees and revamping rest areas along busy highways.
China celebrates its National Day on Oct. 1, with the holiday running till Oct. 7. The annual National Day holiday is marked by mass family reunions and a surge in travel.
This year, the country's transport sector is expected to handle over 1.9 billion passenger trips nationwide during the week-long holiday, said Li Yang, China's vice minister of transportation, during a press conference on Friday.
According to the forecast, there will be over 1.5 billion self-driving trips across domestic destinations during this National Day holiday.
To address the substantial strain on road networks and the increased demand for new energy vehicle charging during the holiday period, transportation departments have enhanced support for popular routes, regions and attractions.
During this year's holiday, the popular inter-provincial passenger transport routes are concentrated among city clusters such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing area.
"We require all places to make corresponding plans for various scenarios to ensure transportation capacity," said Li. Since 2012, China has been waiving tolls for passenger cars during major holidays, including the Spring Festival, the Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Labor Day and the National Day. The policy has significantly stimulated demand for holiday road trips.
This policy will remain effective during this year's National Day holiday to enhance passengers' travel experience, Li said, adding that efforts will also be made to improve facilities and services at highway rest areas.
For instance, transport authorities nationwide are accelerating the installation of charging facilities to accommodate the country's growing number of new-energy vehicles.
"By the end of August this year, 28,800 charging piles had been built in service areas (including parking areas) on highways in the nation, with 44,800 charging parking spaces (charging guns) installed. [We] guide various regions to assess and predict busy service areas for charging in advance," said Zhou Rongfeng, head of the ministry's highway bureau.
China rolls out measures to ensure smooth road trips during National Day holiday
