Guangdong provides integrative app for Spring Festival travel rush

High-speed trains undergo maintenance in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Jan 18 in preparation for the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush from Jan 21 to March 1. [Photo by Lin Yuxian/China Daily]

On Monday, Guangdong provincial government announced that it will create an integration of one-stop travel services for Spring Festival travel, which allows access to all travel information with an app.

The government has launched a special Spring Festival transportation service area on Yueshengshi (meaning Guangdong Provincial Affairs), an app on WeChat, integrating information from the departments of public security, transportation, meteorology, railway, highway and civil aviation for the first time.

Lu Feng, director of the Data Management Bureau of Government Affairs in South China's Guangdong province, said the province has advanced the integration, sharing and application innovation of government data resources, launched the mobile government affairs service platform of Yueshengshi, and realized the 'fingertip handling' of 509 high-frequency government affairs service items with mobile phones last year. The 'Spring Festival transportation service zone' on Yueshengshi offers 31 services and applications this year, providing services from going out to going home.

The interface of the Spring Festival transportation service area consists of four special topics, including self-driving, highway, railway and air passenger transport. Among them, railway special topics provides train schedules, station screens, station panorama, delay inquiry and other information. The special topic of highway motor transport offers a ticket buying service, which covers more than 400 third-level passenger stations in 21 cities across the province.

Moreover, the Spring Festival travel service zone also includes private customized travel information service. The system will automatically associate routes after the destination is set in advance. According to individual travel needs, the official account will provide customized services, including location, weather, road conditions and emergencies. For instance, passengers can subscribe to specified date and destination weather information, as well as bus station, railway station and airport flow of people to adjust travel plans.

The platform also can provide a 'one-click alarm service'. The app has been linked with 'Guangdong 110', with a telephone alarm, video alarm, text alarm and other ways to contact assistance services.

"Every year, as a province with a large population and floating population, Guangdong receives more than 180 million people who travel by railway, road, air and self-driving during the Spring Festival travel rush. The portal provides one-stop travel service and is able to solve the previous problem of low integration and inconvenience travel services, effectively," Lu said.