Ministry of Transport: It is expected that the national highway traffic volume on the first day of the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holiday may exceed the historical highest value
On the 21st, Wang Xiuchun, the person in charge of the Transport Service Department of the Ministry of Transport of China, stated at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that it is expected that the national highway traffic may exceed the historical high on the first day of this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
It is reported that during the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2023, from September 29th to October 6th, a total of 8 days, toll roads across the country will continue to waive tolls for small buses with less than 7 seats. The free time period is from 0:00 on September 29th to 24:00 on October 6th.
Wang Xiuchun introduced that considering factors such as holiday transportation patterns, holiday duration, weather conditions, and Asian Games observation, it is expected that the passenger flow during this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays will have the following characteristics:
From the perspective of travel flow, the overall flow is relatively large. Based on passenger flow monitoring and early ticket pre-sales, it is expected that during the holiday period, the flow of family visits and tourism will overlap at a high level, and the demand for cross regional medium and long-distance travel will significantly increase. Compared with the same period in 2022, there has been a significant increase in the flow of personnel and commercial passenger traffic in the whole society. It is expected that the daily average flow of expressways in China will increase by more than 40% year-on-year, and the flow of expressways in China may exceed the historical high on the first day of the holiday.
From the perspective of time distribution, travel time is more concentrated. The first day of the holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival. The concentration of outbound passenger flow will be higher than that of inbound passenger flow, and the travel demand for family visits will be released centrally. The peak of road travel during the entire holiday is expected to occur around September 29th, with significant traffic pressure on the road network.
From the perspective of spatial distribution, the travel space is relatively concentrated. During the holiday, central cities and key tourist cities will become hot travel destinations. The road network flow in regions such as Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area is relatively high. Travel on highways around large and medium-sized cities is relatively concentrated, and some sections may experience congestion and slow traffic.
Wang Xiuchun stated that in response to the above characteristics, the transportation department will strengthen the analysis of passenger flow demand, improve transportation organization plans, strengthen the deployment of regional transportation capacity in passenger hubs, key tourist attractions, and other areas, strengthen the connection between urban and rural passenger routes and railway trains, civil aviation flights, and waterway passenger routes, and fully meet the needs of people's holiday travel. At the same time, passenger flow information will be released in a timely manner to strengthen travel guidance.