Public Security Bureau flags 6 October as peak return day; urges motorists to plan around highway choke-points

As millions of holiday-makers prepare to head home, the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Management Bureau reported on 5 October that national highway volumes remain “at historically high levels.” Data from road-side sensors show throughput on key expressways is 1.2-times the 2025 Golden Week average, with bottlenecks emerging near major cities and popular scenic areas. Officials project that Thursday, 6 October, will be the single busiest return day. They have deployed extra patrol units, reversible lanes and drone-based incident monitoring to manage flow. The bureau’s nationwide televised bulletin specifically advised drivers on the Beijing–Hong Kong–Macau (G4), Shanghai–Kunming (G60) and Chengdu–Chongqing (G5013) corridors to avoid mid-afternoon departures, when congestion is forecast to peak. While the update focuses on domestic roads, the implications spill into international mobility. Congestion can delay airport transfers and disrupt connecting flights for foreign assignees departing China after business-leisure trips. Travel coordinators should therefore build wider buffers into itineraries and consider rail links—many of which have added late-evening capacity—to bypass gridlocked sections. Insurance providers are also using the bureau’s data to recalibrate risk models, with preliminary estimates suggesting a 15 percent rise in accident claims relative to normal October weeks. Companies with large field-sales fleets should review fatigue-management protocols and discourage overnight drives following client dinners, a scenario the bureau flagged as high-risk. Looking ahead, transport planners urge early adoption of China’s ETC 2.0 smart-toll tags, which provide lane-by-lane congestion alerts and could become mandatory on select routes by 2027. Businesses integrating these devices into corporate vehicles now will be better positioned for the next regulatory cycle.