The recently released Urban Mobility Happiness Survey conducted by Nielsen on behalf of MG Motor India revealed a lot of interesting but already commonly known facts about the urban commuter in the top eight cities of the country. Of course, the study focussed on households that already owned at least one car in the family.
Among the highlights was the difficulty faced by nearly 75 per cent ofof the preferred means of transport or the time of commute based on the availability of parking. Despite this, an overwhelming majority preferred personal transport over public transport even though only one in a hundred reported using the car with more than one passenger. Over 70 per cent of the respondents highlighted that they travel alone or with just one passenger. And over 80 per cent said that the only luggage they carried on their commutes was a laptop bag. Crucially, over 80 per cent of the people surveyed felt that their cities were polluted and nearly 70 per cent mentioned concern for the environment as one of the factors affecting their car-buying decision. Also, over 50 per cent of the respondents acknowledged being impacted by rising fuel prices and nearly 90 per cent travelled less than 30km every day. A similar percentage felt that a compact small car could not only reduce their commute times but also the parking hassles.
