Your gender dictates your path to work: men use two-wheelers, women walk or take a bus

India’s first National Household Travel Survey reveals a sharp mobility divide: while men rely on two-wheelers, working women walk or take public transit, signalling constrains of regional infrastructure and safety-driven curfews. 

A working woman in India is more likely to walk to her workplace in rural areas and take a bus or other public transport in urban areas. A working man, meanwhile, relies heavily on two-wheelers in both rural and urban areas.

These are the findings of the recently released National Household Travel Survey by the statistics ministry, covering 492,000 households and 18.4 million individuals. The first-ever nationally-representative survey reveals how gendered commute to workplace can be in India. Mint explores the data in detail.

Fading footsteps

Traditional gender roles often keep women inside their homes and nearby areas, limiting their mobility and interaction with the outside world. With changing times, women have gained some parity with men when it comes to mobility for education. As they transition to employment, their presence becomes significantly smaller.

Among students travelling more than 1 kilometre to educational institutions, the shares remain broadly balanced across genders, ranging between 64.2% and 68.6% for men and women. Workplace travel, however, reveals a much sharper divide.

The share of women travelling to the workplace drops by nearly half, from 64.2% for education to just 37.7% for work in rural areas. In urban areas, it declines from 67.5% to 52.9%.

How she travels

Among women who do travel to work, geography and gender shape how they get there. For rural women, more than two-thirds walk to their workplace. This suggests that their mobility for work is largely limited to walking distance, while limited access to safe transportation may also leave them with fewer choices. While rural men also frequently walk to work, they utilize two-wheelers and bicycles at significantly higher rates.

Urban women, meanwhile, show a more diverse commuting pattern. While a notable share still walks, they depend far more on public transport, such as buses, monorails and trams, as well as auto-rickshaws, compared with men. Men, like their rural counterparts, rely heavily on two-wheelers. Public transport is used more by urban women than by any other group, underlining its importance in facilitating access to employment opportunities.

Public transit: limited edition

Even though public transport is a more common primary mode of commuting for urban women, its greater usage is limited to a handful of states. Out of the 36 states and union territories, only 10 states have greater presence of public transit for women compared to cars and two-wheelers.

The situation is better for women than for men: no state sees public transport use exceed the combined use of cars and two-wheelers among men, with the latter dominating their commute to work. Public transit preference for women is highest in Ladakh at 69.5% , likely due to its rough terrain, but southern states stand out with notable public transport usage among women, including Kerala (48.3% vs 34.8% car/2W), Tamil Nadu (38.9% vs 24.6%), Karnataka (23.2% vs 18.8%). West Bengal and Delhi also stand out, with their metro network complementing bus transits for women’s commute to work.

Conditioned curfew?

Women’s mobility to the workplace is also shaped by a crucial factor: safety. The data shows that women generally depart for work earlier and finish earlier than men.

During morning commutes, the majority of all groups depart between 8 am and 10 am, with urban men leading this slot, though urban women depart noticeably earlier between 6 am and 8 am compared to urban men.

Evening departure trends show that the vast majority of workers head home between 4 pm and 6 pm, with rural women leaving between 12pm and 2 pm and most urban women concluding work before 6 pm. Urban men represent the largest share staying past 6 pm or 8 pm, reflecting broader societal patterns where late evening travel is defined by safety risks.

About the Author

Pragya is the Editor of Plain Facts, the specialized data journalism vertical at Mint, where she leads a team dedicated to uncovering the stories hidden within complex datasets. Since taking the helm of the section in 2025, she has leveraged over a decade of journalistic expertise to bridge the gap between abstract numbers and storytelling.<br><br>Pragya has distinguished herself through rigorous data work on India’s most critical economic and social indicators in the last eight years. Her portfolio includes deep dives into the complexities of India’s GDP calculations, nuanced critiques of government datasets and surveys, and in-depth analysis of the Time-Use Survey. The latter notably highlighted the profound ways in which marriage reshapes the lives and labour of Indian women.<br><br>Pragya started her journey as a copy editor and a reporter at the Press Trust of India (PTI) in 2016. Her interest in data analysis led her to The Financial Express and Cogencis, where she got opportunities to examine India's public statistics through a rigorous lens. This was further cemented when she joined Plain Facts in 2021. She maintains that while data and charts drive the narrative, they must remain anchored in rigorous journalism—providing the essential context and relevance needed to influence both public policy and everyday lives.