The Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, will run from January 21 to March 1. According to China Railway Corp., over 413 million train tickets will be sold, increasing 8.3 percent year on year.

The railway authorities have rolled out a series of measures to prepare for the upcoming rush. They have added 299 new bullet trains and are facilitating train ticket purchase on the 12306.cn website and its mobile phone app. However, these measures are still inadequate to manage the Spring Festival travel rush.

Chunyun is a huge phenomenon that requires multiple government departments to come up with measures to guarantee safe travel.

In addition, travelers can help make a difference.

First, it is advisable to travel in the opposite direction of the majority who are rushing from their workplaces in large cities to their hometowns in smaller cities or those swarming hot tourist destinations. This way, the pressure on the traffic system can be greatly eased.

Second, carpooling with family members or friends or taking the bus instead of the car will reduce the number of vehicles on the road. This will not only ease traffic congestion but also reduce emissions.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Beijing Youth Daily on December 22)