Drivers reject toll-free travel

Despite the government canceling highway toll fees during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, many drivers have said they will depart sooner to avoid a repeat of the chaos on the expressways during the last October 1 National Day holiday.

Residents have also complained that the toll-free policy only kicks in at midnight Friday, which means that people will have to drive all day on New Year's Eve, when they want to already be at home with their family.

All highways will be accessible for free from midnight Friday to midnight on February 15. Vehicles with fewer than seven seats and motorcycles are included in the policy, Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said.

A resident surnamed Yin set off from Beijing to Liaoning Province on Thursday. He particularly chose the day so he could be at home with his family on New Year's Eve.

"I didn't pick to depart free-toll opening day for the highways, because I want to be home on time," he said.

Another resident from Henan Province, surnamed Huang, said he gave up the idea of driving home this time because of his bad experience on the highway during the October holiday. Instead of driving back home, Huang prefers to go by bus.

"I drove home when the highways were free on the last National Day holiday, and the traffic was jammed all over the place," he said, adding it took him 14 hours to get home, a journey that normally takes eight hours.

Sun Weizhi, another resident, said that she chose to leave Beijing on Thursday to return to her hometown in Shandong Province.

"I don't have time to wait until the highways are free of charge," she said.

"I won't mind if I'm stuck in traffic on ordinary days since the traffic in Beijing and its surrounding areas is always bad, but this is Spring Festival, and I want to be home on time," said Sun.

An employee from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, surnamed Zhang, told the Global times that the commission will put several measures in place to tackle the potential traffic jams.

"We will inform the drivers of the up-to-date traffic conditions via radio, TV as well as the Sina microblog of Beijing Communication Radio," he said.

"We also dispatched staff on the streets to smooth traffic in case of emergency," said Zhang.