Highway may be free on holidays

China is expected to waive tolls for vehicles on four important national holidays, as part of an attempt to ease congested traffic during annual travel peaks.

The State Council approved the plan on Wednesday, and the Ministry of Transport, which initiated the idea, is now busy trying to figure out how to implement the waiver, according to an industry insider who did not want to be identified before an official announcement.

Passenger vehicles with seven seats or less will be exempt from tolls during Spring Festival, Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day), Labor Day on May 1 and National Day on Oct 1, China Land and Resources News, a newspaper under the Ministry of Land and Resources, reported on Tuesday.

"The policy will apply to consecutive holidays of the four vacations. Highways as well as toll bridges and tunnels will be all free to the public," according to the paper's micro blog. It added that the government will also decide whether fees for airport expressways should be waived during those holidays.

The move echoed a previous statement made by He Jianzhong, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, who said at a news conference in Beijing last week that progress had been made on the issue as ministries had reached consensus, and the initiative was awaiting approval from the authority.

This year, authorities in eight provinces waived tolls on expressways during the Spring Festival to speed up traffic for millions of travelers heading home for family reunions.

The latest move, which boldly expands the program nationwide, is expected to save travel time and money for more people.

Teng Xuebei, a Beijing motorist who usually drives to her hometown in Heze, Shandong province, for the holidays, hailed the policy.

Teng said the trip from Beijing to her hometown takes about six hours. "But on national holidays, an additional three to four hours is needed because of the congestion caused by traffic jams at toll gates on the borders between provinces," she said.

Li Yunwei, chairman of the Beijing Car Owners' Society, said the move will potentially boost tourism in suburban districts as people will be more likely to take short driving trips on holidays.

"The cost of short-distance travels will be greatly reduced after tolls are exempted, which makes the travel more economic," he said.

But the policy could also create more congestion on highways.

"The policy brings pressure too as there is a possibility that more people choose to drive on highways, which are already overcrowded on holiday seasons, instead of choosing public transport," said Li Zheliang, an official with the road network monitoring center under the Shanghai Road Administration.

"I'm also worried about the traffic safety at toll stations if vehicles pass through them at high speeds, which are originally designed to make drivers touch their brakes."

Li Yunwei also believes the policy will increase the number of cars on highways during holidays. Whether the policy is a good idea won't be known until it's implemented and used on a holiday, Li said.

Yu Ying, an official at Liaoning province's transport department, said on Wednesday that the department has not received any notices about exempting tolls on holidays. The waiver must first be approved by the province's price department, Yu said.

Shi Yingying in Shanghai and Wu Yong in Shenyang contributed to this story.

tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn