Netizens suggest making the highway free for 5,000 kilometers annually; expert responds: high technical costs

On February 27, media reports indicated that the free highway passage period during this year’s Spring Festival holiday officially ended at midnight on February 23. This means that starting from the eighth day of the lunar new year at midnight, all national highways have resumed normal toll collection.

Recently, a driver who drove from Kashgar, Xinjiang, to Chongqing has attracted widespread attention. Because he unfortunately missed the free toll cutoff at the highway toll station, this driver ended up paying over 1,700 yuan in toll fees.

In response to situations where long-distance drivers find it difficult to precisely control their timing, many netizens have proposed new suggestions. Some believe that the current fixed holiday free policy could be adjusted to give each vehicle an annual free mileage quota of 5,000 kilometers. Supporters of this idea argue that a flexible mileage allowance would allow vehicle owners to plan their trips according to their needs.

In this regard, experts explained that the original intention of implementing toll exemptions for small passenger vehicles during major holidays in China was mainly to ease the traffic pressure at toll stations during peak times and to maximize convenience for the public during specific long holidays.

The current policy targets four key periods: Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labor Day, and National Day, because these times see the most concentrated travel demand and the most significant increases in highway traffic flow.

Experience has shown that the existing policy has indeed played a positive role in improving toll station efficiency, promoting tourism, and stimulating domestic consumption, achieving good overall social effects.

Regarding the proposal of a 5,000-kilometer free mileage per vehicle per year, experts pointed out that while this idea has theoretical value for optimizing road network efficiency, it faces significant technical challenges in practical implementation.

Realizing this plan would require building a nationwide unified mileage management platform, which not only involves extremely high costs for research and hardware but also entails real-time data integration across regions and complex issues related to personal privacy protection.

Considering these practical factors, such a mileage-based free toll model is not currently feasible for full-scale implementation in the short term.