National Household Travel Survey July, 2025 – June, 2026

• ‘Buses (55.8%) and Railways (17.7%) Account Most of Household Overnight Journeys’

Snapshots NSO conducted the first-ever all-India survey on household travel, covering 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks. The survey collected information from 4,92,023 households, covering 20,34,371 persons. Two-wheelers are the predominant mode of transport for commuting to fixed workplaces, accounting for 42.6% of workers. Overnight trips undertaken by households are primarily for social and religious purposes, with buses being the predominant mode of transport. Around 87.6% of students reach their educational institutions within 30 minutes, while 83.4% of workers commute to their fixed workplaces in less than 30 minutes. The average monthly expenditure on commuting to a fixed workplace is ₹785 per worker. Urban workers incur a substantially higher average monthly cost of ₹1,044, compared with ₹612 for rural workers.

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

Primary objectives of the survey

The primary objective of the survey is to generate robust, data-driven insights into domestic travel patterns and dynamics to support regional transport planning, infrastructure development and evidence-based policy formulation. The survey captures key aspects of domestic travel, including:

• Purpose of travel: Employment, education, social engagements, cultural and leisure activities, tourism, domestic work, caregiving and other purposes.
• Mode of transport: Modes of transportation used by different demographic groups for undertaking trips.
• Travel duration and distance: Average time taken and distances travelled during trips.

In addition to meeting the specific data requirements of the Ministry of Railways, the survey is expected to provide valuable insights into how, when and why people travel. The information collected on travel patterns and public transport usage will help identify gaps in existing transport systems, assess accessibility, optimise transport routes and improve service frequency and scheduling. The findings will also provide an important evidence base for regional transportation planning, infrastructure investment and the formulation of informed transport policies.

Major Findings

The major findings of NHTS on four central aspects of commuting, namely, (i) mobility, (ii) duration & peak hours, (iii) expenditure involved, and (iv) overnight and non-work travel are summarised below:

Student Mobility

• 66.4% of Students Commute More Than 1 km Daily: Nearly two-third of students aged 6 years and above undertake within-travel-day trips of at least 1 km to attend their basic course educational institution (65.6% in rural areas; 68.1% in urban areas). Trips less than one kilometre were not recorded. North-eastern States, including Assam and neighbouring States, show considerable less travel time (15 to 19 minutes).
• 77.0% Peak Mobility in Youth (15-29 Years): Students aged 15 – 29 years record the highest regular trip participation at 79.1% in rural India and 73.3% in urban India for daily commute to attend educational Institutes.
• Top 3 Modes to Power School Trips: Walking (37.0%), Buses (29.5%), and Bicycles (15.8%) account for the vast majority of student commutes nationwide.
• Auto-Rickshaws & Two-Wheelers in Student Transit: Auto-rickshaws serve 10.5% of commuting students overall (rising to 14.4% in urban areas), while two-wheelers account for 6.7% (11.5% in urban areas).

Workforce Mobility

• 57.6% of Workers Travel More Than 1 km to Work: Over half of all workers aged 15 years and above perform within-travel-day trips to fixed or non-fixed workplaces (54.5% rural vs. 64.1% urban).
• 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.
• Gender Gap in Workforce Travel:  61.9% of male workers undertake daily work trips (>1 km) compared to 41.9% of female workers nationwide.
• 42.6% of Workers Ride Two-Wheelers: Two-wheelers are the single largest primary mode of transport for workers across India (37.1% rural; 52.3% urban).
• Urban Mass Transit Hotspots: While monorail, metro, suburban rail, and trams account for 5.0% of urban worker commutes nationally, usage surges in Maharashtra (20.7%), West Bengal (16.5%), and Delhi (14.4%).

Commute Duration & Peak Hours

• 23 Minutes to School | 25 Minutes to Work: Average travel time from origin is 23 minutes for students (23 min rural; 22 min urban) and 25 minutes for workers travelling to a fixed workplace (23 min rural; 27 min urban).
• 87.6% of Students Reach Within 30 Minutes: Nearly 9 in 10 students complete their journey to educational institutions in up to 30 minutes (86.6% rural; 89.6% urban).

• 83.4% of Workers Commute in Under 30 Minutes: Over four-fifth of workers reach their fixed workplace within half an hour (86.1% rural; 79.3% urban), while 13.7% take 30 – 60 minutes.

• 82.0% of Students Depart Between 7:00 AM & 10:00 AM: Peak school departure occurs between 8:00 – 9:00 AM (35.7%), followed by 7:00 – 8:00 AM (26.6%) and 9:00 – 10:00 AM (19.7%).

• 94.9% of Workers Leave Before 10:00 AM: Morning rush hour for fixed workplaces peaks between 8:00 – 10:00 AM (56.5%) and 6:00 – 8:00 AM (33.7%), with 4.7% leaving before 6:00 AM.

Monthly Commute Expenditure

• Average Student Commute Cost – ₹443/Month: Urban students spend an average of ₹617 per month on trips to and from educational institutions, compared to ₹361 per month in rural India.
• Average Worker Commute Cost – ₹785/Month: Workers commuting to a fixed workplace spend ₹1044 per month in urban areas and ₹612 per month in rural areas.
• Gender Disparity in Worker Travel Spend: Male workers spend an average of ₹835 per month on fixed-workplace commutes compared to ₹533 per month for female workers.

Overnight & Non-Work Travel

• 73.5% of Overnight Trips Rely on Bus & Rail: 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%).
• 22.7% of Urban Households Choose Rail for Overnight Trips: Railway usage for overnight journeys is about 14.0% among rural households and around 22.7% among urban households.
• 70.2% of Overnight Travel is Social & Religious: Socializing, communication, and religious activities drive the overwhelming majority of overnight household trips (69.7% rural; 70.9% urban).
• Tourism & Health in Overnight Travel: Culture, leisure, sports, and tourism account for 7.4% of overnight household trips (9.3% in urban areas), while self-care and maintenance account for 6.5% (7.6% in rural areas).
• Other Daily Trips – Two-Wheelers, Walking & Autos Lead: For within-day trips other than education and employment, citizens primarily use two-wheelers (32.2%), walking (24.9%), auto-rickshaws (18.9%), bicycles (12.6%), and buses (8.5%).

Estimates of indicators of the related parameters at all-India level for both rural and urban sectors are given in the enclosed Appendix.

Appendix

Key features and conceptual framework of the survey

The survey collected data on regular travels of one kilometre or more performed by Indian people. It was aimed at collecting information on the modes of transport they use, trip purposes, travel frequency, average cost incurred for regular trips and other related parameters. Covering both rural and urban areas across all States and Union Territories of India, this nationwide survey will be a comprehensive benchmark for understanding characteristics of household travel behaviour in the country.

The following new concepts have been introduced in this first ever all India survey.

1. ‘Travel’ in NHTS covers only those trips which entails traversing a distance of one km or more. Any trip of less than one km was not considered a ‘travel’ in NHTS.
2. ‘Primary mode of travel’ means any mode of transport that was used to traverse the longest distance during a trip. If a trip was performed by using a single mode of transport, that will decisively be the primary mode
3. Travel-day: For all purpose of the household travel survey, a travel day will refer to the duration starting from 3:00 AM of one calendar day to 2:59 AM of the next calendar day.
4. Within travel-day trips: Trips that ended anytime during a travel-day and do not keep the household member(s) away from their residence for longer than 24 hours was considered as within travel-day trip. Such trips may span over at most two consecutive travel-days.
5. Overnight trip: A trip that kept a member away from their residence for more than 24 hours will be considered as overnight trip. This will include the travel time as well as duration of stay, if any, during the trip. However, such trips of lengths less than 50 km were not considered as overnight trip even if it kept the household member(s) away from their residence for more than 24 hours:

Estimates of Indicators of Travel Characteristics

Table (1): Percentage of students (according to CWS) of age 6 years and above performing within-travel-day trips to attend educational institution pertaining to basic course
Sector	percentage of students who undertook within-travel-day trip in the age group
	Male			Female			Person
	6-14 years	15-29 years	6 years & above	6-14 years	15-29 years	6 years & above	6-14 years	15-29 years	6 years & above
Rural	60.4	79.3	66.8	57.4	78.8	64.2	59.0	79.1	65.6
Urban	65.3	73.2	68.6	63.4	73.5	67.5	64.4	73.3	68.1
Rural+Urban	61.8	77.2	67.3	59.1	76.8	65.2	60.6	77.0	66.4

Note: Estimates for some of the parameters in one or more of the above tables is reported as ‘zero’, due to rounding off of negligible values.

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