Transport Mode Choice for Commuting: Evidence from India
Using the first ever available information in Census of India 2011, covering 640 sub-national units (districts) in India, we analyze the correlates of modes of transport used by non-agricultural workers at the regional level covering both rural and urban areas. Providing a holistic picture from the perspective policy and academic perspective, we bring out some key stylized facts. Further, using the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) estimation, we model the transport mode choice for commuting by the workers in the context of rural and urban India, and further extend it based on distinction in motorized and non-motorized transport modes. We find that urbanization level, population size and density along with education attainment and worker’s sex ratio (gender ratio among workers), age (elderly) and land use mix play very important role in regional pattern in transport mode choice for commuting. These results highlight the dire need for proper development of transport infrastructure and understanding its various dimensions from socio-economic, demographic and spatial point of view in the context of developing countries.