Analyzing Census data for patterns of mobility inequity: gender, geography, and public policy in India

Abstract

We study gender- and residence-based inequities in travel mobility across India using the 2011 Census—the country’s largest household travel dataset, covering over 200 million person-trips across 35 states and union territories. For each state and for four Census-defined groups (rural male, urban male, rural female, urban female), we estimate empirical survival functions for trip distance (probability of traveling at least x kilometers) via nonlinear least squares and summarize expected trip lengths via the conditional mean up to a 50 kilometer cutoff. Nationally, rural males consistently travel farther than urban males, whereas urban females travel farther than rural females; these orderings persist across policy-relevant thresholds (5, 10, 20 kms). Inter-state variation is marked, e.g., short-distance mobility for rural males is much lower in Punjab than in Nagaland suggesting state-tailored transportation policies. Our results also indicate substantial constraints on rural female mobility. We translate these findings into data-informed guidance for facility siting and transport improvements, emphasizing state-specific targeting and near-access enhancements. The framework provides a scalable basis for macroscopic mobility analysis in India and supports progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Gender Equality) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

ASCII CitationAtomBibTeXData Cite XMLDublin CoreDublin CoreEP3 XMLEndNoteHTML CitationHTML CitationHTML ListJSONMETSMODSMPEG-21 DIDLOpenURL ContextObjectOpenURL ContextObject in SpanRDF+N-TriplesRDF+N3RDF+XMLRIOXX2 XMLReferReference ManagerSimple Metadata

Altmetrics