Calculate commute emissions by transport mode

Estimate weekly and annual travel-to-work emissions for car, electric car, motorbike, bus, rail, London Underground, cycling, or walking.

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ToolCommute Emissions Calculator
Input
Output
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How it works

One-way kilometres are doubled and multiplied by commuting days, commuting weeks, and the selected UK Government 2026 conversion factor. The same annual distance is also multiplied by the average unknown-fuel car factor to show the difference from driving.

Formula
annual kg CO2e = one-way km × 2 × days per week × weeks per year × mode factor
  • Car and motorbike factors apply per vehicle-kilometre; public-transport factors apply per passenger-kilometre.
  • Days and weeks have no assumed office-work defaults because hybrid, shift, leave, and seasonal schedules differ.

Worked example

15km each way by car, five days a week
Input
											Distance km: 15
Mode: car
Days per week: 5
Weeks per year: 48
Output
												Weekly distance km: 150
Weekly kg: 24.89
Yearly kg: 1194.55
Yearly tonnes: 1.19
Car kg if driven: 1194.55
Saving vs car kg: 0

When to use this

Workplace travel surveys compare transport modes, hybrid-work plans compare office-day schedules, and transport plans compare regular car journeys with bus, rail, or Underground alternatives.

Edge cases

  • Entering the full return distance as “one way” doubles it again; enter only one direction because the calculation supplies the return leg.
  • A shared car still uses the vehicle-kilometre factor and is not divided by passenger count, whereas bus and rail selections already use passenger-kilometre factors.
  • Walking and cycling show zero operational emissions, excluding food energy, equipment manufacture, and infrastructure rather than asserting a zero lifecycle footprint.

References