Apps that help commuters avoid rush

2015-02-10 12:12:57 

As the Chinese Lunar New Year, known as Spring Festival, approaches, China's busiest annual travel begins.

Thanks to the rise in mobile Internet and a market that saw 450 million smartphone shipments last year, every single step in celebrating the traditional festival witnesses technological improvements and becomes more "smart".

In the first in a three-part series we take a look at some service-oriented apps used by Chinese travelers during the holiday season.

With family reunion   being the most important factor of the holidays, millions of commuters take the help of apps to reach their hometown. Here's a look at some of them..

The second part of the special reports will appear Wednesday and the final part on Thursday.

Taxi-hailing apps

Didi Dache vs Kuaidi Dache

On Jan 15, 2015, Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba's Kuaidi Dache announced that it had raised $600 million to strengthen its position in the hotly contested market.

By subsidizing both taxi drivers and passengers, the two apps have invested heavily to grab more market share.

This is interpreted by analysts as being their way of promoting their mobile-pay applications, as users can get fare reductions only through their respective platforms.

Official rail ticket booking app

12306.cn

In the past, ticket booths in large cities were overwhelmed during the Spring Festival period, with people having to waits for hours and even days in some cases to buy a ticket.

This year, the official rail website started selling tickets 60 days ahead of the festival, compared with 20 in previous years.

The move has been taken to help passengers plan early and avoid rush hour.

Online ticket sales have helped reduce crowds at ticket counters. On Feb 4, 2015, the first day of the holiday season travel rush, Beijing West Railway Station, the city's busiest, reported shorter lines.

According to Xinhua News Agency, China's rail system is expected to handle 300 million trips during the travel rush in 2015, up 10 percent year-on-year. It represents the highest growth of all forms of passenger transportation, according to figures from the National Development and Reform Commission.

One-stop self-service flight app

Umetrip

With primary functions such as flight status, real-time air traffic news, ticket prices, seat information, seating chart, etc, an app powered by China Travelsky Mobile Technology Co Ltd was launched on both Android and iOS platforms in 2012.

According to the company, it is the only government-owned enterprise to provide such information.

In 2001 the China Civil Computer and Information Center brought all the airline companies together to establish Travelsky to provide all information related to airports and flights.

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