Toll-free policy eases holiday congestion

Wednesday marks the last day of the three-day holiday. Travellers surge during the time when people try to enjoy their holiday and relax from hard work. And it's almost been a year since China first implemented its road toll-free policy on major national holidays. On the last day of the three-day May Day holiday, our reporter Hou Na went to find out what impact this new policy has had on the nation's traffic.

Mr. Feng is one of millions of road warriors who knows all too well the headaches induced by traffic jams. So he decided to start early to avoid the congestion along the way from Shijiazhuang back to Beijing. He's used to seeing a return-to-work travel rush, especially at the toll booths on the last day of the short holiday. But much to his surprise this time, it was smooth sailing.

"It is the last day of the holiday, I don't want to get stuck in congestion, so I started early," Mr Feng said. "I didn't see too much traffic along the way from Shijiazhuang to Beijing."

Most of the country's expressways are toll-free during the May Day holiday. Passenger vehicles with seven seats or fewer are exempt from highway tolls on major national holidays. Mr Feng cruised through them with ease.

The Dujiakan toll gate is one of the busiest tollgates in Beijing. It has 6 lanes for traffic leaving Beijing, and 12 lanes for traffic entering Beijing. It is the last day of the May Day holiday. At 2 pm, from what we can see, not as much trafic entering Beijing as we expected.

The toll-free expressways not only save drivers from toll fees, but also allow them to avoid waiting in lines near toll gates. But despite these obvious advantages, the policy didn't go so well at the very beginning.

The State Council approved a free-pass program last August to lift road tolls for passenger cars taking highways during major Chinese holidays. The move was prompted by unexpected highway congestion last October that when toll-free measures first took effect, electric tickets were still handed out. After that, authorities decided to eliminate electronic tickets altogether.

"It used to cost me around 1,000 yuan travelling from Beijing to Anhui," Mr Feng said. "Though we saw some congestion at the toll gates when this policy was first put in place, now I have saved a lot of money because of this policy."

According to the transpotation authority, on the second day of the May Day holiday, about 1.2 million trips via high expressways have been recorded in and out of Beijing. That's a 33 percent increase compared with the same period last year.