National Statistics Office Publishes Key Findings of India's First National Household Travel Survey

Key facts

• The National Statistics Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), released the key findings of India's first-ever National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), conducted from July 2025 to June 2026.
• The survey covered 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks, collecting information from 4,92,023 households covering 20,34,371 persons.
• Two-wheelers are the predominant mode of transport for commuting to fixed workplaces, used by 42.6% of workers.
• Buses (55.8%) and inter-city railways (17.7%) are the primary modes for household overnight travel, followed by cars (15.1%) and two-wheelers (8.8%); 73.5% of overnight trips rely on bus and rail.
• Around 87.6% of students reach their educational institutions within 30 minutes, while 83.4% of workers commute to fixed workplaces in less than 30 minutes.
• The average monthly expenditure on commuting to a fixed workplace is Rs 785 per worker, with urban workers spending Rs 1,044 compared to Rs 612 for rural workers.
• Male workers spend an average of Rs 835 per month on fixed-workplace commutes compared to Rs 533 for female workers, while urban students spend Rs 617 per month versus Rs 361 for rural students.
• States such as Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh show average travel times of around 20-23 minutes, with higher travel times in parts of southern India.