The provincial traffic police squad and the freeway management authority jointly released the contingency plan for highway traffic during the upcoming mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holiday.
The province’s highways will operate toll-free during the upcoming National Day holiday from October 1st to October 8th.
The highways across the province will be toll-free for passenger cars with seven seats or less from 0:00 on October 1st to 24:00 on October 8th when most Chinese will go home and return to work.
The daily flow of vehicles is expected to vary from 2.79 million to 2.91 million during the 8-day holiday, up within the range of 12% and 17% from a year ago, the two authorities said.
The daily flow of vehicles during the travel peak is expected at a range between 2.95 million and 3.15 million with the first wave of travel peak expected to come on October 1st and the return-trip travel peak will occur on October 6th onwards.
Meanwhile, the provincial authorities have drafted plans to cope with the possible congestion at 12 major black spots such as the second Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, the Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangyin and the Sutong Yangtze river bridge.
Chinese authorities have adopted a new regulation which exempts passenger cars taking expressways from tolls during the Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, Labor Day and National Day holidays, starting October 2012.
The policy, which allows free passage of passenger cars with seven seats or fewer on toll roads, bridges and tunnels, is warmly welcomed by the majority of private car owners, a group that has long complained that toll gates cause traffic jams during national holidays.
