Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN is among the top cities in China that offer free rides to travelers for the Spring Festival transport season under the Share-A-Seat Program of Didi Hitch.

    Under the program, 4,000 passengers got free rides and 6,000 riders carried large luggage on their transport. About 4,000 riders were traveling with their children and 3,000 were accompanied by their pets on their trips returning home.

    “Shenzhen car owners discounted an average of 210 yuan (US$30.63) to riders, and riders from Shenzhen to Dongguan, Guangzhou and Huizhou have been exempted from paying fees,” Didi Chuxing said in a release yesterday, without elaborating the number of free rides.

    In 10 days since the start of the Spring Festival holiday rush Jan. 13, 1.5 million car owners have offered to share seats on their long-distance ride home to 2.25 million fellow travelers on the intercity Didi Hitch network, equivalent to adding an extra of 3,147 eight-car high-speed passenger trains to the country’s strained transportation supply. Didi Hitch has become a primary choice for intercity travels, filling in the capacity gap unmet by railway, road and air transportation.

    During last year’s Spring Festival transport season, a total of 1.9 million passengers used the same service over the course of 40 days. During this year’s holiday rush, the intercity Didi Hitch is expected to register 8.4 million such long-distance ridesharing trips.

    Didi Chuxing, the operator, launched the national “Share-A-Seat Program” in Beijing together with seasoned Didi Hitch car owners, encouraging private car owners to share spare seats in their cars to take people home.