Safe travel over Spring Festival a priority(2)

Emergency plans

The ministry has prepared plans to avoid passenger congestion in the case of an emergency and will improve the links between rural and urban areas. 

Management and supervision on long-distance coaches, especially chartered, and passenger transport enterprises will be tightened, and driving while fatigued will be severely punished, He said.

Ships' operations will be suspended if there is extreme weather, and transport authorities will intensify their checks of ports and vessels.

Transport departments will strengthen their communication and cooperation with public security authorities in the crackdown on illegal operations. They will also join hands with local governments to improve ticketing and information services.

Toll-free expressways

Specific guidelines have been made to accommodate passenger cars with fewer than seven seats in their travel on toll-free expressways from Feb 9 to 15, the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, according to He.

The State Council, China's cabinet, decided in August that most expressways should be toll free for passenger cars with fewer than seven seats during four national holidays. The move left the country's expressways witnessing skyrocketing traffic during the National Day holiday in October and many places reported serious jams on highways.

To address the side effects of the policy, expressway authorities will "streamline the passage of cars through toll gates, designate special lanes for cars eligible for the policy, and publish road information in a timely manner", He told the news conference, adding that local traffic officials have been asked to deploy emergency-response and rescue teams on expressway sections that are prone to accidents or congestion.

Long-distance coaches

To ease the workload of long-distance-coach drivers and reduce safety hazards, a trial program will soon begin in 13 provincial-level regions including Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangxi, restricting the long hours drivers work by switching drivers to keep them fresh.

Transport authorities will select large companies with good operation and safety records to carry out the program, which begins on Sunday. After driving a certain distance, a bus driver will be replaced by one of his counterparts at one of the route's stops. The shift will be conducted between 11 pm and 2 am.

Buses involved in the program will be allowed to operate overnight, He said, adding that the practice will be gradually promoted nationwide if the trial proves successful.

He also said the ministry is cooperating with the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office to draft the regulation of public transportation in urban areas, aiming to further boost public transport in cities.