66.4% Students Travel Over 1 Km Daily for Education, 42.6% Workers Rely on Two-Wheelers: First NHTS - DD India

The first-ever National Household Travel Survey has found that 66.4 per cent of students aged six years and above travel more than 1 km daily to attend their educational institutions, while two-wheelers are the predominant mode of transport for 42.6 per cent of workers commuting to fixed workplaces.

The first-ever all-India survey on household travel covered 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks, collecting information from 4,92,023 households covering 20,34,371 persons.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the key indicators and findings of the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), conducted from July 2025 to June 2026, through a factsheet. For the survey, a trip was defined as travel covering a distance of more than 1 km.

The survey found that nearly two-thirds of students aged six years and above undertake within-travel-day trips of at least 1 km to attend their basic-course educational institutions. The share was 65.6 per cent in rural areas and 68.1 per cent in urban areas. Trips of less than 1 km were not recorded. In northeastern states, including Assam and neighbouring states, students reported comparatively shorter travel times of 15 to 19 minutes.

Students in the 15-29 age group recorded the highest regular trip participation for daily travel to educational institutions, at 79.1 per cent in rural India and 73.3 per cent in urban India.

Walking emerged as the most common mode of student travel, accounting for 37 per cent of commutes, followed by buses at 29.5 per cent and bicycles at 15.8 per cent. Auto-rickshaws accounted for 10.5 per cent of student commutes overall, rising to 14.4 per cent in urban areas, while two-wheelers accounted for 6.7 per cent nationally and 11.5 per cent in urban areas.

Workforce mobility

The survey found that 57.6 per cent of workers aged 15 years and above undertake within-travel-day trips of more than 1 km to fixed or non-fixed workplaces. The proportion was 54.5 per cent in rural areas and 64.1 per cent in urban areas.

Male workers recorded a higher share of daily work trips of more than 1 km, at 61.9 per cent, compared with 41.9 per cent among female workers nationwide.

Two-wheelers were the single largest primary mode of transport for workers, accounting for 42.6 per cent of workplace commutes. Their share was 37.1 per cent in rural areas and 52.3 per cent in urban areas.

The survey also highlighted the use of urban mass transit, with monorail, metro, suburban rail and trams accounting for 5 per cent of urban worker commutes nationally. Their usage was higher in Maharashtra at 20.7 per cent, followed by West Bengal at 16.5 per cent and Delhi at 14.4 per cent.

Average travel times to workplaces were around 20-23 minutes in states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, while higher travel times were recorded in parts of southern India.

Commuting costs

The average monthly expenditure on commuting to a fixed workplace stood at Rs 785 per worker. Urban workers incurred an average monthly expenditure of Rs 1,044, compared with Rs 612 for rural workers.

The average monthly commuting expenditure for students was Rs 443, with urban students spending Rs 617 compared with Rs 361 in rural areas.

The survey also showed a gender difference in workplace commuting expenditure. Male workers spent an average of Rs 835 per month on travel to fixed workplaces, compared with Rs 533 for female workers.

-PIB Inputs

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