National Household Travel Survey July, 2025 – June, 2026

1. At a Glance

• The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) is India's first all-India survey of household travel. It was run by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under MoSPI from July 2025 to June 2026 [1][2].
• It records why, how, when and how far Indians travel: trip purpose, mode, duration, distance, departure time and spending [1][2].
• It was set up to meet the data needs of the Ministry of Railways. It is meant to give a spatial demand matrix across rail, road and air [2][4].
• UPSC relevance: it covers urban mobility, the gender gap in mobility, public transport planning and statistical reform. It is fresh data for GS-I (urbanisation), GS-II (governance) and GS-III (infrastructure).

2. Why in the News

• On 05 October 2026, NSO released the key indicators and findings of the first-ever NHTS as a Factsheet [1].
• Headline finding: two-wheelers are the main mode for 42.6% of workers commuting to fixed workplaces. The average commute cost is ₹785 per worker per month [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Rationale: the survey was based on the requirements of the Ministry of Railways. It is meant to help plan transport across modes and to show what drives choice of mode and destination [2].
• Earlier NSS work on travel: previous rounds covered only domestic tourism, meaning overnight trips:
• NSS 65th Round (2008-09): Domestic Tourism in India (Report No. 536) [7].

• NSS 72nd Round (July 2014 – June 2015): Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism. Its sample was 8,001 villages and 6,061 urban blocks [6].

• Milestones:

• MoSPI invited stakeholder comments on the draft NHTS schedule (questionnaire) [5].
• NSO held an All-India Workshop of Trainers for DTES and NHTS [8].
• NSO announced that NHTS would run alongside the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES) under the NSS 80th Round [2][3].
• A regional NSO conference was held in Raipur, where a railway DRM said NHTS would strengthen railway planning and services [4].
• Fieldwork ran from July 2025 to June 2026 [1][3].
• The Factsheet was released on 05 Oct 2026 [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Key numbers [1]

Other findings [1]

• Students by mode: walking 37.0%, bus 29.5%, bicycle 15.8%, auto-rickshaw 10.5% (14.4% urban), two-wheeler 6.7% (11.5% urban).
• Mass transit share of urban worker commutes (metro, monorail, suburban rail and tram): 5.0% nationally. It is much higher in Maharashtra (20.7%), West Bengal (16.5%) and Delhi (14.4%).
• Work trips by gender: 61.9% of male workers vs 41.9% of female workers make daily work trips of more than 1 km.
• Peak hours:
• 82.0% of students leave between 7 and 10 AM; the busiest slot is 8–9 AM (35.7%).

• 94.9% of workers leave before 10 AM: 56.5% between 8 and 10 AM, and 4.7% before 6 AM.

• Longer trips: 13.7% of workers take 30–60 minutes to reach work.

• Overnight trips are mainly for social and religious purposes, and buses are the main mode.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• An average spend of ₹785 per month on commuting, rising to ₹1,044 for urban workers, shows that transport is a real cost for households and affects how much of their income they can spend elsewhere [1].
• The survey gives a spatial demand matrix for rail, road and air. This can guide investment in railways and other infrastructure [2].
• The DTES run alongside it feeds the Tourism Satellite Account, which helps measure tourism's share of GDP [3].

Social: gender and equity

• There is a 20-percentage-point gap between men (61.9%) and women (41.9%) in daily work trips of more than 1 km. This is linked to women's limited mobility and their labour-force participation [1].
• Students rely heavily on walking and bicycles. This points to the importance of schools being close by, safe roads and programmes that provide bicycles [1].
• Urban students pay about 1.7 times more than rural students to commute (₹617 vs ₹361) [1].

Environmental and urban

• Two-wheelers dominate (52.3% of urban workers), while mass transit is only 5.0% nationally. This suggests heavy reliance on private vehicles, with effects on congestion and emissions [1].
• Mass transit use is concentrated in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi. This suggests metro and suburban rail have barely reached other cities [1].

Administrative and governance

• The findings are meant to show gaps in existing transport systems, assess accessibility, improve routes and improve service frequency and scheduling [1].
• This is a case of demand-driven statistics: a line ministry (Railways) set the data need, and NSO supplied it [2].

Statistical and technological

• This is the first time India has recorded everyday trips within a single day, not only overnight or tourism trips. Previous NSS rounds (65th, 72nd) covered only overnight tourism [1][6][7].
• The sample is large: about 4.9 lakh households and 20.3 lakh persons. For comparison, the 72nd Round covered about 1.4 lakh households [1][6].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• Jul 2025: NHTS fieldwork began as part of NSS 80th Round, alongside DTES [3].
• 2025: NSO held a regional conference in Raipur on NHTS and railway planning [4].
• Jun 2026: fieldwork ended [1].
• 05 Oct 2026: NSO released the first NHTS Factsheet [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• NHTS was India's first-ever all-India household travel survey, run by NSO under MoSPI [1].
• Survey period: July 2025 – June 2026 [1].
• It was conducted to meet the data needs of the Ministry of Railways, not MoRTH or MoHUA [1][2].
• It formed part of the NSS 80th Round, along with the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey [3].
• A trip was defined as travel of more than 1 km [1].
• Sample: 14,274 villages, 10,377 urban blocks, 4,92,023 households, 20,34,371 persons [1].
• Two-wheelers are the largest commute mode for workers at 42.6% (urban 52.3%) [1].
• Walking (37.0%) is the top mode for students, followed by bus (29.5%) [1].
• The highest urban mass-transit share among workers is in Maharashtra (20.7%), followed by West Bengal and Delhi [1].
• Average commute: 23 min for students and 25 min for workers [1].
• Average worker commute cost is ₹785 per month: ₹1,044 urban vs ₹612 rural [1].
• Overnight trips are mainly social and religious, and buses are the main mode [1].
• North-eastern States (Assam and neighbours) have the shortest student travel times, 15–19 minutes [1].
• The DTES data feed the Tourism Satellite Account, prepared by the Ministry of Tourism [3].

8. What the Headline Numbers Leave Out

• The 1 km rule hides the shortest and poorest trips
• A trip counted only if it was more than 1 km. Shorter trips were not recorded [1].
• So the student figure of 37.0% walking is the share of longer trips only. Children who walk 500 metres to a village school do not appear at all.

• Short walks are the most common way that poor and rural people travel. The survey therefore shows them as travelling less than they really do.

• The 42.6% two-wheeler figure covers only some workers

• It describes workers who travel to a fixed workplace [1].
• Only 57.6% of workers travel more than 1 km to work at all [1]. Farmers, home-based workers and people who work next door sit outside the commute figures.

• So "42.6% of Indian workers ride a two-wheeler" is a wrong reading. It is 42.6% of workers who commute.

• Averages hide the long commuters

• The average worker commute is 25 minutes, and 83.4% arrive within 30 minutes [1].

• But 13.7% take 30 to 60 minutes [1]. That leaves about 3% who take even longer. These people pay the highest cost in time, and an average does not show them.

• Urban workers pay more and still get there later

• An urban worker spends ₹1,044 a month, against ₹612 for a rural worker [1].
• Yet fewer urban workers arrive within 30 minutes: 79.3%, against 86.1% in villages [1].

• So in cities, more money does not buy a faster trip. That points to congestion and distance, not to people choosing comfort.

• This is only a Factsheet

• The release gives key indicators by State and by rural/urban area [1]. It does not split the data by income group or by city.
• Without an income split, we cannot tell whether ₹785 a month is a small cost or a heavy burden for the poorest workers.

9. Reading the Gender Gap Without Jumping to Conclusions

• The gap is among workers, not among all women
• 61.9% of male workers make a daily work trip of more than 1 km, against 41.9% of female workers [1].

• Both numbers are already limited to people who work. So the gap is not caused by fewer women working. It shows that working women stay closer to home.

• Two explanations, and the data cannot separate them

• One reading: women take up home-based work, farm work or nearby jobs because travel is hard, costly or unsafe.
• The other reading: the type of work women already do (on family farms, at home) needs no travel.

• The Factsheet does not ask why someone does not travel, so it cannot tell us which reading is right [1].

• Link to female labour force participation

• Female LFPR (the share of women who are working or looking for work) was about 40% in 2025, as per the PLFS [10].
• If women can only take jobs within walking distance, the range of jobs open to them shrinks. Poor mobility and low participation can feed each other.

• This is the point a GS-I answer should make, but it should be written as a link that needs testing, not as a proven cause.

• The care-work trips are missing from the headline

• The survey recorded trips for domestic work and caregiving [1]. These trips are mostly made by women.
• The released excerpt does not report them separately. Until it does, women's total travel is likely shown as smaller than it really is.

10. Built for the Railways, but Most Commutes Are City Trips

• The client and the main users are different
• The survey was designed around what the Ministry of Railways needed [2]. Railways care about long trips between cities and regions [4].
• But the main finding is about daily trips. These are short, by two-wheeler, bus or on foot, and they happen inside cities and towns [1].

• Those trips are planned by city bodies and by MoHUA, not by the Railways.

• A national sample is too thin for city planning

• The sample has 10,377 urban blocks spread across the whole country [1].
• A city needs an origin–destination matrix (a table of how many people travel from each area to each other area). That needs many households in every part of that one city.

• So, except perhaps for the biggest metros, NHTS cannot replace a city's own travel survey.

• Cities already do their own surveys, but they do not match

• MoHUA's Scheme for Urban Transport Planning helps cities prepare transport plans [12]. City plans, such as the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Noida and Greater Noida, are made through separate studies [13].

• Each city uses its own method. NHTS gives, for the first time, one national standard that these city studies can be checked against.

• The earlier benchmark is 15 years old and narrower

• Census 2011 Table B-28 recorded distance and mode of travel to work, but only for "other workers" (non-farm workers) [11]. It did not cover students or trips for other purposes.
• NHTS is the first national data set that covers students, non-work trips and spending as well [1]. Comparing the two carefully shows how India's commute has changed since 2011.

11. What Should Be Done With This Data

• MoHUA should use the survey to fix the last kilometre, not only to build more metro lines
• Mass transit carries only 5.0% of urban worker commutes. Even in Maharashtra, the leader, it is 20.7% [1].
• The National Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy plans dense housing and offices within 500–800 metres of transit stations, a walkable distance [9].

• The aim of the TOD Policy is to move cities away from dependence on private vehicles [9]. NHTS gives the starting figure against which that shift can be measured.

• States should plan for buses and two-wheelers as they are today

• Bus is the second mode for students (29.5%), and two-wheelers are the first for workers [1].
• Metro projects take years. More city buses and safe lanes for walking and cycling can reach far more people sooner.

• Students cycle 15.8% of their trips [1]. Safe roads near schools protect a habit that is already working.

• NSO should release more than the Factsheet

• Unit-level data (the anonymous answers of each household) would let researchers split the figures by income, caste, gender and city.

• That split is what decides whether ₹785 a month is a light or a heavy cost for the poor [1].

• The next round should count trips under 1 km

• Leaving out short trips hides walking, which is how many poor people and women travel [1].

• Even a smaller sub-sample with full trip records would correct this.

• Repeat the survey on a fixed cycle

• One survey is a single photograph. A trend needs a second round.
• Repeating it, for example every five years, would show whether metro spending and the TOD Policy are actually moving people out of private vehicles [9].

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 42.6% of commuting workers use two-wheelers as their main mode (52.3% urban); mass transit carries only 5.0% of urban worker commutes [1]
• Data: 61.9% of male workers vs 41.9% of female workers make a daily work trip of more than 1 km [1]; female LFPR was about 40% in 2025 (PLFS) [10]
• Data: Urban workers spend ₹1,044 a month on commuting vs ₹612 rural, yet only 79.3% reach work within 30 minutes vs 86.1% rural [1]
• Report/Committee: National Transit Oriented Development Policy, MoHUA: dense development within 500–800 m of transit stations to shift people from private vehicles [9]
• Comparison: Census 2011 Table B-28 recorded only non-farm workers' distance and mode of travel; NHTS adds students, non-work trips and spending [11]
• Scheme: MoHUA Scheme for Urban Transport Planning, which supports city-level mobility plans that NHTS can now benchmark [12]

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-I: Urbanisation, its problems and remedies; role of women (gender gap in mobility).
• GS-II: Government policies and interventions; evidence-based policymaking; statistical institutions.
• GS-III: Infrastructure (railways, roads, urban transport); inclusive growth; environmental pollution from private vehicles.
• Possible question stems: 1. The first National Household Travel Survey shows that India's urban commute depends on private two-wheelers. Discuss the implications for sustainable urban mobility and suggest measures to increase the share of public mass transit. (GS-III, 15 marks) 2. Gender gaps in daily mobility both reflect and reinforce low female labour-force participation. Examine this in light of recent survey evidence. (GS-I, 10 marks) 3. Demand-driven official statistics can transform infrastructure planning. Evaluate with reference to the NSS 80th Round surveys. (GS-II/III, 15 marks)

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• NSS 80th Round and DTES: the companion survey that feeds the Tourism Satellite Account.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS): worker definitions and female participation, useful context for the mobility gender gap.
• Restructuring of NSO/MoSPI and statistical reforms: the institution behind the survey.
• Urban mass transit (metro, suburban rail, city buses): why mass transit is only 5% of urban commutes.
• National railway planning and the share of freight and passenger traffic: the Ministry of Railways is the main user of the data.
• Vehicular pollution and EV policy: effects of two-wheelers dominating commutes.
• Women's safety and public transport: the background to the 61.9% vs 41.9% gap.
• Domestic tourism (NSS 65th and 72nd Rounds): earlier rounds that measured only overnight travel.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• National Sample Survey (Geography): NHTS ran as part of the NSS 80th Round, so knowing how NSS surveys work helps with the note.
• National Statistics Office (Geography): NSO under MoSPI conducted NHTS and released the Factsheet, so its role and structure matter.
• Transit-oriented development (Economy): The TOD Policy aims to cut private-vehicle use, and NHTS gives the baseline to measure that.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (Economy): PLFS gives the female participation figures used to explain the gender gap in work travel.
• Labour force participation rate (Economy): The gender gap in commuting is linked to women's low labour force participation.
• Urbanisation (Geography): Most findings concern city commutes, two-wheeler dependence and low mass transit, which are urbanisation problems.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Wrong ministry: NSO/MoSPI conducts the survey. The Ministry of Railways only set the data requirement. It is not run by MoRTH or MoHUA [1][2].
• NHTS confused with DTES: NHTS covers all travel patterns, while DTES covers tourism spending on overnight trips for the TSA. Both belong to the NSS 80th Round [3].
• "First-ever" claim: earlier NSS rounds (65th, 72nd) surveyed domestic tourism, not general household travel. NHTS is the first dedicated travel survey [1][6][7].
• Trip threshold: only trips of more than 1 km count, so short walks are excluded. This means walking is undercounted [1].
• Mixing up percentages: 42.6% is the two-wheeler share among workers. 57.6% is the share of workers travelling more than 1 km. 83.4% is the share reaching within 30 minutes [1].