UPSC Darpan

SocietyGS16 October 2026

First National Household Travel Survey finds two-wheelers carry 43% of workers, buses carry women

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The news

New Delhi, October 5. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released India’s first National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), conducted from July 2025 to June 2026 among 20 lakh people in 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks; trips under 1 km were not recorded. Per ET’s report of the survey, 42.6% of workers commute mainly by two-wheeler, 28.3% walk, 10.7% cycle, 6.7% take a bus and 3% drive a car; metro, suburban rail, monorail and trams carry 5% of urban workers, but 20.7% in Maharashtra, 16.5% in West Bengal and 14.4% in Delhi. The Indian Express finds that only 9% use public transport to work, and that 21.7% of urban women travelling over 1 km take a bus, against 6.9% of urban men; the share is 46.8% in Keralam and 41.1% in Tamil Nadu. A worker spends ₹785 a month on commuting (urban ₹1,044, rural ₹612).

The chain in one line: Cities outgrow their public transport → households buy two-wheelers → planners lack national trip data → the NSO runs a travel survey in the NSS 80th round → results show thin public transport and women reliant on buses

Static syllabus linkage

  1. MoSPI and the National Statistics Office run India’s official surveys. MoSPI was formed in 1999 by merging the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. In 2019 the Central Statistics Office and the National Sample Survey Office were merged into the National Statistics Office (NSO) within the ministry. National Sample Survey rounds are numbered; the NHTS was part of the 80th round, which also covers domestic tourism and health.
  2. The National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 set the principle of moving people, not vehicles. The Union government’s National Urban Transport Policy of 2006 asked cities to give priority to public transport and non-motorised modes such as walking and cycling, and to allocate road space by people carried rather than vehicles.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Urbanisation and women’s mobility are core GS1 themes. GS1 lists “Urbanization, their problems and their remedies” and the “role of women”. The NHTS supplies the first national numbers for both.

Prelims nuggets

  • The National Statistics Office was formed in 2019 by merging the Central Statistics Office and the National Sample Survey Office, under MoSPI.
  • The first National Household Travel Survey was conducted as part of the 80th round of the National Sample Survey.
  • SDG target 11.2 calls for access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030.
  • The National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 prioritises public transport and non-motorised transport in cities.

Analysis

  1. Lens — Growth and equity: the bus is a women’s employment policy. Urban women take the bus three times as often as men because they less often own or ride a two-wheeler and more often hold low-paid jobs near home. A fare or a missing route therefore decides whether a woman can take a job at all. The survey seems to support the free-bus schemes of several southern States, where women’s bus use is highest. It is not proof, since high bus use there may partly result from those schemes; frequency and safety matter as much as fares.
  2. India’s commuting is short, cheap and private, which is a warning. Most workers reach work within half an hour because many live near it. As cities spread, trips will lengthen, and without better buses that means more motorcycles, congestion and road deaths. Metro use above 14% in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi shows that where rail exists, people use it.
  3. The data is the reform. City plans relied on local studies that could not be compared; a national survey lets funds go where bus dependence is high and service thin. Its limit is that trips under 1 km were not recorded, which hides much of the walking that poor and women commuters do.

Possible Mains question

In the light of the first National Household Travel Survey, discuss the link between urban public transport and women’s participation in work. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Discuss. Explain the link from several sides and reach a view.
  2. Introduction — India’s first national commuting data. Two lines on the NHTS and its scale.
  3. Two-wheelers dominate and public transport is thin. Cite 42.6% two-wheeler and 9% public transport; value addition: NUTP 2006.
  4. Women depend on buses, so bus access shapes their work. Use the 21.7% versus 6.9% contrast and the southern States’ figures; draw a bar chart of women’s bus share by State.
  5. Fare-free schemes help, but frequency, safety and last-mile links decide outcomes. Note the risk of reading correlation as cause.
  6. Conclusion — plan by people moved and fund buses as social infrastructure. One line.

Administrator's brainstorm

As Municipal Commissioner of a mid-sized city, how would you use the NHTS findings?

I would compare our women’s bus share and average commute time with the State’s, and map where bus routes do not reach employment clusters. I would shift money from road-widening to frequent buses, safe stops and footpaths. Finally, I would ask the State for district-level survey data so that routes can be planned on evidence rather than complaints.