Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 24 (reporter Gao Jie, Zhu Wenzhe) Autonavi map recently jointly released the "2021 May Day Holiday Travel Forecast Report" with traffic management departments across the country. Data show that this year’s May Day Golden Week, with the epidemic prevention and control situation continuing to improve, travel policies are gradually relaxed, and public travel demand will be further released. The national high-speed congestion is expected to increase by more than 10% compared with the same period last year, or it will become the "most congested May Day in history".
Data show that in the past four years, the proportion of high-speed congestion mileage across the country during the May Day holiday has been increasing year by year. It is expected that the degree of high-speed congestion during the May Day holiday in 2021 will become the highest in history, with an increase of more than 10% year-on-year.
Due to the impact of high-speed free passage and concentrated travel demand, it is expected that high-speed outbound congestion will peak on May 1, 2021 (the first day of the holiday), and the overall high-speed congestion level across the country will be at a high level from May 2 to 4. On May 5 (the last day of the holiday), the high-speed return congestion peak will return to normal on May 6.
From the perspective of the specific time period, it is expected that from 14:00 on April 30, 2021 (the day before the May Day holiday), the national high-speed traffic pressure will gradually increase, and the degree of congestion will be higher from 18:00 to 21:00. Affected by high-speed free passage, it is expected that from 9:00 to 13:00 on May 1 will be the peak of high-speed outbound congestion, especially from 10:00 to 11:00, and from 15:00 to 18:00 on May 5, the peak of high-speed return congestion will be met. It is expected that from 16:00 to 17:00 will be the peak of return congestion.
The data shows that on May 1, the main sections of the national high-speed outbound are: the Shanghai section of the S20 outer ring expressway, with a congestion delay index of 17.4 during the day and an average speed of about 5 kilometers per hour, followed by the Shanghai section of the G1503 Shanghai Ring Expressway and the Suzhou section of the G4221 Shanghai-Wu Expressway.
It is expected that on May 5, 2021, the main sections of the national high-speed return journey that are prone to congestion are: the S49 Xinyang Expressway Suqian and Huai’an sections, with a daytime congestion delay index of 10.2 and an average speed of about 9 kilometers per hour; followed by the G36 Ningluo Expressway Chuzhou section and the G40 Shanghai-Shaanxi Expressway Lu’an and Hefei sections. It is recommended that citizens who plan to pass through the above sections travel at different peaks.
In addition, Autonavi map search big data predicts that during the May Day period, the top 10 cities in the country for cross-city travel are mainly distributed in the southern region, of which Guangzhou has the highest popularity, followed by Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Among the top ten popular ancient cities (towns) for self-driving during the May Day period, the top three are: Xiangxi Phoenix Ancient City, Jiaxing Xitang Ancient Town, and Lijiang Ancient Town.
The report forecasts that some popular scenic spots for self-driving tours are prone to traffic congestion, and surrounding roads are prone to congestion. It is recommended that people planning to visit Lijiang Ancient City, Chongqing Hongya Cave Folk Style Area, Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden, Xi’an Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Jinan Daming Lake, and other scenic spots plan for parking as much as possible in advance, or choose taxi and public transportation.
In addition, it is expected that during the May Day period, Taishan Scenic Area in Tai’an City, Yuntai Mountain Scenic Area in Jiaozuo City, and Huangshan Mountain in Huangshan City will attract more tourists. Due to the large temperature difference at the top of the mountain, tourists who go to the mountain are reminded to bring warm equipment to avoid catching a cold.