China News Service, Beijing, February 9 (Zhao Bin) This year's Spring Festival travel period in China lasts for 40 days, from January 26 to March 5. According to the Ministry of Transport, the cross-regional movement of people across the country is expected to reach 9 billion, of which approximately There were 7.2 billion self-driving trips, and self-driving trips hit a record high.
Yang Feng, director and researcher of the Road Network Operation Division of the Road Network Monitoring and Emergency Response Center of the Ministry of Transport, said in a recent interview with China News Service that in the past, Spring Festival travel statistics were mainly for commercial vehicles. This year, data on private cars and passenger cars were added. It can be seen that The increase in self-driving travel has attracted much attention and should be actively addressed.
Yang Feng believes that self-driving travel during the Spring Festival this year has "three excesses": first, there are many cars, and the number of passenger cars in the Chinese market is increasing year by year, which will inevitably lead to more transportation capacity on roads; second, there are many families traveling, carrying luggage and taking care of the elderly and the young. , self-driving travel will be closer to the needs of family travel to a certain extent; third, it is more convenient. Not only is the highway free of charge during the Spring Festival holiday, but within the approved number of passengers, multiple people riding together will also reduce travel costs. Very cost effective.
During this year’s Spring Festival, China’s transportation management departments at all levels have made great efforts in transportation services and convenience, so that self-driving personnel can enjoy more services and convenience on key transportation links such as roads and expressway service areas.
Yang Feng believes that the proportion of self-driving trips during China's Spring Festival travel period has increased year by year, which is not unique to this year. The proportion of self-driving trips may further increase next year.
Talking about new energy vehicle travel, he said that since 2022, the Ministry of Transport has vigorously promoted the construction of charging infrastructure along highways and expanded highway service areas through various media methods such as the "e-Road Smooth" applet and navigation maps. Charging piles can be "checked easily" to improve the highway travel experience of new energy car owners and alleviate the range anxiety of new energy car owners.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport is also actively exploring new models to improve highway transportation service capabilities and efficiency. For example, during the peak hours of heavy traffic, vehicles in the quick service parking area can quickly stop and go quickly when entering the area, so as to avoid affecting the smooth flow of roads due to excessive parking in the service area. This includes fast charging and fast driving of new energy vehicles. Drivers and passengers do not have to be fully charged at one charging point, but ensure that the vehicle has the necessary cruising range before entering the next charging point, thereby improving the efficiency of charging piles. With the optimization and upgrading of high-speed service area services and other measures in parallel, more people will naturally choose to travel by car.
Yang Feng said that according to statistics and forecasts this year, the daily traffic volume during the peak period of the Spring Festival holiday is more than twice that of usual times. In order to cope with the sharp increase in highway traffic volume, the transportation department has taken three main measures:
First, construction is suspended during the holidays. During the Spring Festival holiday, except for emergency maintenance construction, general construction maintenance operations are completely suspended.
The second is to improve the efficiency of accident handling. In relatively accident-prone areas such as sections with frequent traffic interactions, more rescue and other accident handling personnel and vehicles and other professional equipment will be added.
The third is to optimize vehicle drainage. Timely adjust and optimize the number of two-way passages at toll stations, and ensure the orderly movement of different types of vehicles, including tolled, toll-free, manual and automatic vehicles. (over)