On January 16, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the situation and arrangements for the 2024 Spring Festival travel. Li Yang, Deputy Head of the Special Task Force for Comprehensive Transportation during the Spring Festival and Vice Minister of Transport, stated that this year’s Spring Festival travel season will begin on January 26 and conclude on March 5. The volume of cross-regional personnel flow across society is expected to reach a historic high, with approximately 9 billion people traveling for holidays, family visits, and leisure activities during the 40-day period.
This year, the Spring Festival travel structure will undergo a significant change. Traditional commercial transportation, including railways, highways, civil aviation, and waterway passenger transport, is expected to accommodate around 1.8 billion passenger trips. The number of self-driving trips is estimated to be around 7.2 billion, accounting for 80%, setting a new historical record.
The Ministry of Transport has announced that the toll-free policy for private cars on highways will remain unchanged this year. The toll-free period will be from midnight on February 9 (New Year’s Eve) to 24:00 on February 17 (the eighth day of the Lunar New Year), totaling 9 days. According to predictions, the daily traffic volume on the highway network and national (provincial) roads during the Spring Festival is expected to reach 37.2 million vehicles, a 7.5% increase from the same period last year. The peak is expected to occur on February 17 (the eighth day of the Lunar New Year).
To address the peak of self-driving trips, the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, has proposed eight measures for ensuring road travel during major holidays. This includes enhancing congestion relief on congested routes, improving the passage capacity of toll stations, and optimizing clearance and rescue operations. During the Spring Festival travel season, service areas will increase mobile toilets and charging facilities to meet the needs of large passenger flows.
In terms of railways, the national railway is expected to transport 480 million passengers during this year’s Spring Festival travel season. Compared to the 2023 Spring Festival, this represents an increase of 37.9%, and compared to the 2019 Spring Festival, an increase of 18%. Based on current pre-sale conditions, there is a noticeable increase in family visits and tourist passenger flows.
For civil aviation, the passenger transport volume during this year’s Spring Festival is expected to exceed 80 million people, representing a 9.8% increase compared to 2019 and a 44.9% increase compared to 2023. It is expected to set a new historical record.
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