Current Context: On 5 October 2026, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released key findings of India’s first-ever National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). The survey was conducted from July 2025 to June 2026 to understand how Indians travel for work, education and other purposes.
Key Points:
- Survey coverage: The NHTS covered 4,92,023 households and 20,34,371 persons across 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks. For the survey, a trip was defined as travel covering more than 1 km.
- Purpose: The survey was designed to provide data on travel purpose, transport mode, distance, duration and expenditure to support transport planning, infrastructure development and evidence-based policymaking.
- Workers’ preferred mode: Two-wheelers were the dominant mode for commuting to fixed workplaces, used by 42.6% of workers. Walking accounted for 28.3% of work commutes.
- Public transport use: Buses accounted for 6.7% of work travel, while rail-based modes accounted for about 2.3%, indicating relatively low public-transport dependence for daily work commuting.
- Student travel: Around 66.4% of students aged 6 years and above travelled at least 1 km to reach educational institutions. Walking (37%) was the most common mode, followed by buses (29.5%) and bicycles (15.8%).
- Travel time: Around 87.6% of students and 83.4% of workers reached their destinations within 30 minutes. Average travel time was around 23 minutes for students and 25 minutes for workers.
- Commuting cost: The average monthly expenditure for commuting to a fixed workplace was ₹785 per worker. Urban workers spent an average ₹1,044, compared with ₹612 in rural areas.
- Gender gap: Around 61.9% of male workers travelled more than 1 km to work, compared with 41.9% of female workers, showing a substantial difference in daily workforce mobility.
- Overnight journeys: Buses were the leading mode, accounting for 55.8% of household overnight journeys, followed by railways at 17.7%. Social and religious purposes formed a major share of such travel.
- Policy significance: The findings can help governments identify gaps in public transport, improve route planning and service frequency, assess accessibility and prioritise future transport infrastructure investment.
Question:
Q1. According to India’s first National Household Travel Survey 2025–26, which was the most commonly used mode of transport for commuting to fixed workplaces?a) Bus
b) Car
c) Two-wheeler
d) Railway
Answer: (c) 42.6% of workers used two-wheelers to commute to fixed workplaces, making them the dominant mode of work travel in India.
