Hunan province highway traffic pressure grows

Hunan province's highway transport faced the first peak of the 2018 Spring Festival travel rush on Feb 6, with 719,000 cars hitting the road, 4.36 percent more than the traffic of the previous day, according to the Hunan Provincial Highway Construction and Development Corporation. 

Also known as Chunyun, the Chinese travel rush, which began on Feb 1, puts the province's transport system under a lot of pressure. As more passenger cars and trucks set out, the traffic in Hunan province becomes heavier. 

From 8 am on Feb 5 to 8 am on Feb 6, the major sections of the expressway across Hunan province were packed with cars, resulting in slow movement. 

The traffic monitoring data show that the traffic flow will continue to rise in the following days in the south-to-north direction of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao expressway, the east-to-west direction of the Shanghai-Kunming highway, the south-to-north direction of the Erenhot-Guangzhou highway and Changsha-Zhangjiajie highway. 

It is estimated that the province's expressway traffic will peak again on Feb 8 with about 2.84 million cars on the road, which will increase congestion once more. 

To relieve the pressure on the three highways mentioned, the province's transport authorities began implementing a special charging policy where drivers will be charged according to the shortest route between the place of departure and destination from Feb 6 to midnight on Feb 25. 

Previously, drivers were charged based on their actual journey, according to the Hunan province's highway charging system. 

Drivers are advised to reroute and take less-burdened highways.