It is understood that in recent years, self-driving travel by highway has gradually become the main mode of travel, especially during major holidays, when passenger cars account for more than 90% of the total traffic flow on highways. Among them, new energy vehicles are also growing rapidly. During the recent May Day holiday, the proportion of new energy vehicles on highways exceeded 18%.

In recent years, the Ministry of Transport has continuously promoted the upgrading and renovation of service facilities, strengthened the construction of barrier-free facilities, mother and baby rooms and "driver's homes" in service areas, and in particular vigorously promoted the construction of charging infrastructure to enhance the charging service guarantee capacity during major holidays.

Li Ying stated that, in order to further improve the service quality of service areas and provide better guarantees for the public's self-driving travel, the Ministry of Transport recently issued the "Measures for the Evaluation of Service Quality Levels of Expressway Service Areas." The "Evaluation Measures" focus on improving the service quality of service areas and promoting the high-quality development of expressway service areas nationwide.

It is understood that the service area service quality rating consists of two parts: rating configuration indicators and level evaluation indicators.The graded configuration indicators mainly provide an objective evaluation of the infrastructure configuration of the service area, such as the area occupied by the service area, the number of parking spaces, and the availability of charging stations, gas stations, vehicle repair shops, "driver's lounges," and mother and baby rooms.The performance evaluation indicators mainly assess the management level and service quality of service areas, such as the cleanliness of public restrooms, the orderliness of public areas, the quality of catering and retail services, and the level of automotive services.

Li Ying stated that, going forward, the Ministry of Transport will accelerate the formulation of relevant standards for the evaluation of service quality levels of highway service areas. Focusing on key areas of public concern such as the construction of charging infrastructure, holiday service guarantees, and heartwarming services for truck drivers, the Ministry will organize and carry out service quality evaluation work for service areas, giving full play to the guiding role of the evaluation work, promoting reform, construction, and management through evaluation, and continuously improving the service level of highways.

At the press conference, Li Ying, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport, also mentioned thatNationwide, a total of 35,000 charging piles and approximately 51,000 charging parking spaces have been built, and new energy urban buses account for 77.6% of the fleet.

▲ Li Ying, spokesperson and deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Transport

Li Ying explained that both the transportation and energy sectors are strategic and fundamental industries for the nation, and also important areas for reducing carbon emissions and promoting green growth. Promoting the deep integration of the transportation and energy sectors is of great strategic significance for ensuring national energy security, actively and steadily advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and accelerating the construction of a strong transportation nation and a new energy system.

The Ministry of Transport has consistently attached great importance to the integrated development of transportation and energy, promoting the construction of a number of integrated transportation and energy projects and continuously improving the clean energy supply system for transportation. Nationwide, the installed capacity of clean energy sources such as wind and solar power in transportation infrastructure exceeds 890,000 kilowatts. A total of 35,000 charging piles and approximately 51,000 charging parking spaces have been built. The proportion of new energy urban buses has reached 77.6%. More than 430 clean energy vessels have been built or are under construction. The national railway electrification rate has reached 75.3%.

Recently, ten departments, including the Ministry of Transport, jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development of Transportation and Energy." Li Ying stated that the opinions, based on the current realities of the integrated development of transportation and energy, focus on eight aspects, including the development and utilization of clean energy in transportation infrastructure, the promotion of new energy and clean energy transportation equipment, and the guarantee of green fuel supply for transportation. They propose 25 key tasks and deploy a number of landmark and leading major projects for the integration of transportation and energy, which will undoubtedly strongly promote a significant adjustment in the energy consumption structure of the transportation sector, forming new scenarios, new models, and new business forms for renewable energy substitution, and comprehensively improving the overall efficiency of transportation and energy infrastructure.

Next, the Ministry of Transport will focus on five key areas to promote the effective development of the integration of transportation and energy.

First, we should strengthen planning coordination.Promote the integration and interaction of transportation and energy infrastructure planning, carry out network planning for highway and waterway charging (swapping) station facilities, strengthen the coordinated layout with power grid planning, and improve the local guarantee level of clean energy. Guide local governments to carry out research on transportation and energy integration planning, and clarify the scale, construction sequence, and network layout of new energy and clean energy development and utilization along the infrastructure routes.

The second is to strengthen policy coordination.Implement a series of special actions, including the "Qiyao" and "Chengfeng" actions for transportation infrastructure, the low-carbon transformation and development action for transportation equipment, the grid-based deployment action for charging (swapping) infrastructure, and the action to accelerate the supply of green fuels for transportation. Promote the participation of clean energy projects for transportation infrastructure in electricity market transactions, and study policies for direct green electricity connections within the transportation infrastructure network.

Third, expand and deepen application scenarios.Make full use of the land surrounding service areas, toll stations, maintenance work areas, and monitoring centers along highways to promote the local development and utilization of clean energy. Accelerate the construction of a number of near-zero carbon hubs and ports. Strengthen the construction of charging and battery swapping facilities. Accelerate the construction of high-power charging infrastructure along highways and create a number of intelligent transformation projects for bidirectional charging and discharging facilities.

Fourth, promote the application of new energy equipment.We will continue to promote the application of new energy vehicles in urban public transport, taxis, postal express delivery, urban distribution, ports, airports, and other fields, and promote the large-scale application of new energy heavy-duty trucks. We will vigorously support the development of new energy and clean energy-powered ships, vigorously promote the energy-saving transformation and low-carbon upgrading of high-energy-consuming and high-emission railway locomotives and rolling stock, and promote the regular use of sustainable aviation fuel in airports in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing region.

Fifth, we will increase investment in scientific and technological research and development.Relying on national research platforms and major national science and technology projects, we will establish a research and development platform for transportation and energy integration technologies and equipment, promote cross-industry, cross-departmental, and cross-regional collaborative innovation, and conduct research on key technologies such as flexible interconnection of transportation energy systems and energy grids, large-capacity solid-state batteries, and megawatt-level super-fast charging. We will also promote the development and revision of relevant standards for the development and utilization of clean energy in transportation infrastructure, electric heavy-duty trucks, hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks, and electric ships, and improve safety, energy conservation, and environmental protection standards.