According to the first-ever National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), only 15% of workers use public transport, including buses, trains, trams, or auto-rickshaws. Meanwhile, 46% of employees rely on cars or motorcycles.
Nationally, 43% of workers use motorcycles for travel, and 3% use cars. In urban areas, dependence on these modes of transport is higher: 53% of workers travel by two-wheeled vehicles, and 5.7% by car.
Furthermore, 28.3% of people commute to work on foot, making walking the second most common mode of transport. 10.7% of workers use bicycles. The data shows that over a third of rural workers (36%) walk to work, compared to 14% in urban areas. The survey covered trips longer than 1 km and was conducted from July 2025 to June 2026; round trips were counted as two journeys.
The average commute time for a worker is 25 minutes, while in cities it increases to 27 minutes, and in rural areas to 23 minutes. Morning commutes are heavily concentrated before 10 am, as almost 95% of workers leave home for work at this time.
In terms of expenses, workers spend an average of 785 rupees per month on travel. Men spend significantly more (835 rupees) than women (533 rupees). This gap is even more noticeable in rural areas, where men spend more than twice as much as women—674 rupees versus 307 rupees.
In contrast, student mobility presents a completely different picture. Walking is the most frequent mode of transport for students, accounting for 37%, followed by buses (29.5%) and bicycles (15.8%). Approximately 88% of students reach educational institutions within 30 minutes, with an average trip duration of 23 minutes. Nearly four out of five students leave for school between 7 am and 10 am.
In addition to meeting specific requirements of the Ministry of Railways, this study is expected to provide valuable insights into how, when, and why people travel. The NSO stated that information on travel patterns and public transport usage will help identify gaps in existing transport systems, assess accessibility, optimize routes, and improve service frequency and schedules.