Beijing: Six Chinese bloggers have launched a "ride-share" hitchhiking programme to ease the burden of holiday travel for people who fail to get tickets ahead of the Spring Festival.
The programme was launched by the bloggers for the holiday travel season last year, and relaunched it again this year, Xinhua reported.
It is aimed at helping those people who cannot get tickets to go home, especially migrant workers with limited access to official ticketing systems.
Those failing to snap up tickets can now turn to shunfengche.org via text messages, a mobile app and microblog.
Real names are essential for hitchhiking safety.
In 2012, over 1,000 people took advantage of the programme, and the number is expected to jump to 10,000 this year, said Wang Yong, one of the programme`s founders.
The Spring Festival, China`s most important holiday for family reunions, falls Feb 10. The holiday travel period runs from Jan 26 to March 6.
Over 220 million passenger trips are expected during the period, putting enormous stress on the country`s transport sector.
IANS
