Why did a 36-hour nightmarish traffic jam happen in China? Lessons world would want to learn

In a recent update, a massive traffic jam disrupted daily life in China’s Anhui province on Monday. The reason behind the jam that caught international attention is because millions of travellers were returning home after celebrating the long holiday of National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival. The Wuzhuang Toll Station, which happens to be China’s largest toll plaza with 36 lanes, was overwhelmed with thousands of vehicles. All came to a standstill for hours causing a major traffic jam.

Some drone footage and videos doing rounds on Chinese social media including Weibo and Douyin shows a sea of red taillights glaring under the night sky. The toll plaza has been described as a “river of red lights.” The visual is stunning but it shows the chaotic life of China.

These videos went viral in no time, drawing global attention.

The reason behind the rush

From October 1 to 8 China observed an eight-day Golden Week holiday. It was combined with the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a rare occurrence. But this became the busiest travel event of the year with millions of domestic journeys across the country. On Monday, the long holiday ended and merrymakers started returning home without releasing that a massive homeward-bound jam was waiting for them.

Location

As per local media, the Wuzhuang Toll Station on the G40 Shanghai–Shaanxi Expressway and G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway junction choked and soon became the congestion hub. Set near the Hefei–Nanjing Expressway, this plaza handles traffic from several highways converging at one point.

Reports suggest that the Wuzhuang Toll Station recorded more than 14,800 vehicles per hour despite its 36 lanes (12 inbound, 24 outbound).

The facility was seen incapable of handling the rising number of vehicles which stood still for hours. The travellers got irritated and started making videos of the sea of red lights.

Free Toll Policy added to the pressure

The situation got out of control because of the country’s “free passage” policy. As per the policy, small passenger vehicles can use expressways toll-free during public holidays. Though it’s a great measure which aims to promote domestic travel, it also leads to heavy congestion resulting in hours of jam.

Tidal Lanes were introduced as a solution to the problem and 66 extra tolls were temporarily set up to handle the traffic.

Several things contributed to this unprecedented pool of vehicles:

: Despite 36 lanes, vehicles merge into fewer exit lanes. This creates natural bottlenecks. : Because the two festivals merged, there was an unpredictable number of vehicle inflow.

Though real-time video monitoring systems were in place, the scale of movement overwhelmed control centers.

The weather also played a crucial role in the entire episode. Southern China was facing heavy rain warnings from Typhoon “Maidem” around October 6–7. It is also possible that the warnings slowed highway travel and added to the building congestion.

Soon after the unmanageable jam, travel advisories were issued encouraging travellers to return at different times. But the viral videos of the Wuzhuang toll jam left the world overwhelmed with some surreal visuals.

Even a 36-lane toll plaza failed to manage the vehicle and left a canopy of red taillights. As the country continues to develop and holiday travel every year, balancing accessibility, safety, and speed will remain one of the biggest challenges for China’s transport officials.