At noon on May 2, the number of vehicles on Hangzhou Ring Expressway and Changshen Expressway increased significantly compared with usual. "There are few large trucks, mainly small passenger cars. Many families drive out to play during May Day." Master Chen, who is driving, told the First Financial reporter.
According to the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Transportation, on May 1, the total flow of expressway exports in the province was 5.2548 million vehicles, an increase of 10.56% over the same period in 2024. Data released by the Ministry of Transport on the 2nd showed that the number of non-commercial passenger buses on expressways and ordinary national and provincial highways was expected to travel 233.3 million, an increase of 2.0% year-on-year. Experts predict that the popularity of travel during this year's May Day holiday may reach the peak of the May Day since 2023.
Tao Hanxiang, deputy director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, recently introduced that this year's May Day holiday, the passenger buses are driving in self-driving. It is estimated that the average daily flow of high-speed passenger buses nationwide is about 55.8 million, accounting for about 99% of passenger buses, a significant increase over the same period in 2024. During the holidays, short-distance and medium- and long-distance travel within the province are intertwined, and cross-provincial travel increases significantly compared with the Qingming Festival holiday.
As an important link connecting scenic spots, tourist highways are becoming an important tool to promote the growth of self-driving travel and tourism consumption. On the 2nd, information provided by the Ministry of Transport showed that during this year's May Day holiday, the popularity of tourist highways continued to rise. It is predicted that tourist roads around traditional popular cities such as Hangzhou, Xi'an, Qingdao, Wuhan, and Chengdu have become popular, and tourist roads in long-distance provinces such as Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xinjiang have also emerged, forming a dual-wheel development pattern of "traditional scenic spots drive + emerging Internet celebrity areas".
The Ministry of Transport introduced that during this year's May Day, Zhejiang Wengjin Line Tourism Highway held the Yanguan Ancient City-Chaole City Tide Music Season, carrying out five major series of activities, including Chopin Art Show, Sound Wave Party, Why Meeting Market, City Wall Music Live, Yanguan Maiba KTV, etc., and more than 30 performances, creating an immersive musical life journey for tourists.
A series of activities such as Wang Mingfeng's calligraphy and seal carving works exhibition, Jiangsu and Shanghai powder painting works exhibition, Hua YOUNG Sea Chauwan Market, Jiangsu Province Youth Sailing Championships, Youth Art Flash Week, etc. were held along Jiangsu Ringhu Highway, adding infinite vitality to the Taihu Highway Tour.
In Dongting Township, Guangde City, Anhui Province, in the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, this year's May Day has once again ushered in an equestrian feast. Visitors can not only appreciate the charm of traditional equestrians, but also experience the collision and integration of modern cycling cultures such as "dressage". The Yangcheng Lake Service Area of Ninghu Expressway is themed "Intangible Cultural Heritage Culture into Service Area", and has launched interactive activities such as intangible cultural heritage markets and national style seal check-in.
In addition, the S21 Awu Expressway tourist highway, which is only 2 hours away from Urumqi, also ushered in a new check-in point during the May Day holiday - Kela Beautiful Desert Park. The desert-themed "service area + desert leisure and entertainment complex" covers one-stop "food, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, entertainment" and other projects. The Balinghe Bridge Museum of Guizhou Province, in conjunction with surrounding scenic spots, has launched a series of special packages such as "Balinghe Bridge Tour + Gaodang Buyizhai" and "Balinghe Bridge Tour + Huangguoshu Waterfall", integrating accommodation, food and exclusive services to form a one-stop consumption closed loop.
The Huanku Tourism Highway in Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province covers the "One Mobile Travel Danjiang" mini program, providing route planning, scenic spots, accommodation, catering, parking lots, public toilets, special food, bus routes, tourism strategies and other functions, unlocking the best check-in point with one click.
Traffic police, cultural and tourism departments in Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province cooperate closely to formulate traffic diversion plans in advance, monitor road conditions in real time through intelligent traffic systems, and publish road conditions information using electronic display screens and social media platforms to guide tourists to reasonably plan travel routes. Jiangsu Runyang Bridge uses the "ground + air" three-dimensional control mode and the intelligent application system of multi-function lane, to monitor abnormal events such as throwing objects, parking, and slowing down in the main bridge area in real time to reduce the risk of road traffic.
According to the First Financial Daily reporter, during this year's May Day, local transportation departments also used a variety of technical means to ensure that tourists travel conveniently and efficiently.
Shanghai Transportation Department has made key arrangements for 24 easily congested points and 8 easily congested toll stations on the city's expressways, and has adopted "one road, one plan" and "one stop, one plan" measures, and has taken measures such as adding tollers, opening up full toll lanes, accelerating ETC special situation handling, and setting up a fast passenger bus passage to alleviate congestion at the intersection. Use intelligence boards, indicators and on-site command to guide the traffic flow in an orderly manner.
The Jiangsu Transportation Department has launched the first high-speed "mobile charging aircraft carrier" demonstration project in the country, which has been put into use in the flat bridge service area of the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway. The maximum power of the "Mobile Charging Aircraft Carrier" project can support 8 vehicles to charge simultaneously. Carrying 3,600 kWh of electricity at a time can meet the energy replenishment needs of more than 100 new energy vehicles. The charging efficiency of a single gun can reach up to 120 kilowatts, and the charging speed is twice as high as that of ordinary charging piles.
Anhui Provincial Transportation Department uses the "Anhui Mei Expressway Brain" platform to adopt the "online real-time monitoring and offline timely dispatch" model to dynamically collect dynamic information of the entire road network, focusing on monitoring the traffic flow of major cities, scenic spots, provincial boundary trunk lines, bridge and tunnel long slopes, and sections of renovation, expansion and construction, accident-prone roads, and timely dispatch and intervention.
