With Shunfengche's help, it will link 'hitchhikers' to drivers willing to help

Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-hailing firm, is partnering with a nonprofit organization to help migrant workers go home during the Spring Festival travel rush - the largest annual human migration in the world.

The eve of the Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 27 this year, is the most important festival for Chinese people. About 3 billion trips are expected during the annual travel peak from Jan 13 to Feb 21, official data show.

The urge to head home puts a huge strain on public transport, making train tickets from cities to less developed regions some of the most hard-to-get items.

With this in mind, Didi launched its Shunfengche, or "hitchhiking" project to help people share rides. It matches car owners who are willing to offer a free ride with those needing a lift, based on departure points and destinations.

When it comes to migrant workers, most of whom don't know how to buy train tickets online, Didi also partnered with Facilitator, a Beijing-based nonprofit organization which focuses on helping migrant workers, to help them return home via Shunfengche.

Li Zhen, a volunteer at Facilitator, said: "For migrant workers who spend most of their time far away from home, it is of utmost importance for them to reunite with families during the Spring Festival."

"But the high price of train tickets and long working hours make it difficult for them to secure a proper ticket," Li said. "We hope more people can join us to help migrant workers,"

Didi also said it will spend 10 million yuan ($1.45 million) in January to encourage more people to share rides during the Spring Festival travel rush.

"Ride sharing is the most effective way to meet people's growing transportation needs, given the limited resources," said Liu Qing, president of Didi.

According to the firm, the Shunfengche project is expected to help deliver 8.4 million trips during the annual travel rush this year. Last year, the number was 1.9 million.

Li Xiu, a 25-year-old office worker in Hangzhou, said she plans to go home via carpooling services. "It is quite convenient. I already booked online a ride from Hangzhou to Dezhou in Shandong province."

As of last Wednesday, Didi said it has received many cross-city carpooling requests for the Spring Festival travel rush, the longest was a 4,217-kilometer journey from Daqing in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province to Sanya in southern Hainan province.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn