Spring Festival travel rush starts: Expressways in Guangdong to see traffic peak on Jan. 16

The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, also known as "Chunyun," officially kicked off today (Jan. 14). During the 8-day Chinese New Year holiday period, small passenger vehicles (7 seats or fewer) will be exempt from expressway tolls, further boosting traffic volumes.

According to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation, the province's expressways are expected to handle a total of 281 million vehicle trips during the 40-day travel period. The daily average traffic volume is projected to reach 7.02 million vehicles, with Jan. 16 forecasted as the pre-holiday traffic peak. Traffic volumes will then decline gradually, hitting the year's lowest point on Jan. 28 (Lunar New Year's Eve).

During the holiday period (Jan. 28 to Feb. 4), traffic is expected to rise again, peaking on Feb. 4 with an estimated 8.79 million daily vehicle trips. Key routes, such as the Dongguan-Foshan Expressway and Guangzhou-Longchuan Expressway, are expected to experience heavy congestion. 

The travel rush also coincides with the anticipated surge in Hong Kong and Macao residents traveling north to the mainland. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge shuttle bus service will operate approximately 1,500 trips per day during this period, an increase of 200 trips compared to last year.

As of the end of 2024, over 76,000 HK single-plate private cars have been approved for the "northbound" travel scheme. This represents a significant year-on-year increase in cross-boundary vehicle trips, further contributing to the Spring Festival travel rush.

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