Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 06: A first-of-its-kind NSO survey shows most commuting workers reach work within 30 minutes. Yet city commutes lean on two-wheelers and cars, not mass transit. Women travel far less for work.
India’s commutes are shorter than many assume, but they are changing shape. The National Statistics Office has released its first-of-its-kind household travel survey. Summary findings from Household Travel in India 2025-26 came out on Monday. The numbers show quick journeys for most workers. They also show cities leaning heavily on personal vehicles.
Most trips stay short
Only 57.6% of workers travel more than a kilometre to work. Among them, about 83% reach work within half an hour. The detailed national figure is 83.4%. That share is 86.1% in rural areas and 79.3% in cities.
Hour-long commutes are rare. Just 2.8% of workers take more than an hour to reach work. The figure is 2.1% in villages and 4.1% in cities.
Students travel briefly too. Only 12.5% spend more than 30 minutes getting to school or college.
Delhi stands out
The data is split only by state and Union Territory. So Delhi is the only metro city visible on its own. Its average commute is 35 minutes. About 7.8% of Delhi’s workers take longer than an hour. Among major states, urban commutes are longest in West Bengal and shortest in Punjab.
Short journeys do not mean roads are free of congestion. Many workers may simply live close to where they work.
Cities choose vehicles over mass transit
The sharper story lies in how people travel. Two-wheeler and car use rises from 39% in rural areas to 58% in cities. Mass public transport barely keeps pace. Buses, trains, Metro and trams carry just 14.5% of urban workers. Bus use rises far less than train and Metro use between villages and cities. Fewer city workers walk or cycle than their rural counterparts.
Cars themselves remain a small commuting mode. Only about 3% of workers use one to get to work. That includes personal cars, taxis, shared cars and employer-provided vehicles. It is not a measure of car ownership. The summary tables cannot link commute time to transport mode.
Gender gap widens at work
Gender shapes who travels at all. Among students aged six and above, 67.3% of males travel to study. The female figure is 65.2%, a gap of 2.1 points.
Among workers aged 15 and above, the gap grows sharply. About 61.9% of men commute to work, against 41.9% of women. That is a 20-point difference. The survey records this gap but does not explain it.
Buses rule longer trips
Overnight travel tells a different story. Socialising, communication and religious practice led reasons for such trips. Buses carried 55.8% of households on overnight journeys. Rail followed at 17.7%, with cars close behind at 15.1%. Two-wheelers took 8.8%, while air travel was just 0.6%.
Short trips, bigger questions
India’s daily commutes look shorter than its traffic debates suggest. But the mode of travel raises bigger questions. Urban workers lean on personal vehicles far more than mass transit. And women remain far less mobile for work than men.
