Commuting footprint

By the BlocCarbon methodology team · Published 3 August 2026 · Last updated 10 August 2026

This commuting carbon calculator turns your regular journey to work into an annual CO2e figure using DESNZ 2026 passenger transport factors. A 20 km each-way car commute in an average car adds up to roughly 1.5 tonnes of CO2e over a working year, while the same commute by rail is under a third of that.

TL;DR — Describe your usual commute per mode and how often you make it; we apply DESNZ 2026 per-km factors and annualise.

Step 1 of 1

Running total: 0.00 tCO2e

Your commute

Tell us a typical journey — a start and end point or a distance, how often you make it, and whether it's a return. We do the multiplying (47 working weeks a year).

Car commuting

Pick the car, then your usual journey

Train commuting

e.g. home station to work station

× 47 working weeks/year

Bus commuting

× 47 working weeks/year

Tube / metro commuting

Distance only — underground routes aren't straight lines

× 47 working weeks/year

How is it calculated?

  • Car: DESNZ 2026 factors by car size (average car, unknown fuel: 0.16591 kgCO2e/km).
  • Rail 0.03092, bus, London Underground and taxi per-passenger-km factors from DESNZ 2026.
  • Walking and cycling count as zero direct emissions.

Every calculation uses the current official factor set and records the factor behind each line — see our methodology.

Frequently asked questions

How much CO2e does commuting by car produce?
An average car emits 0.16591 kgCO2e per km (DESNZ 2026). At 40 km per working day over ~230 working days, that is about 1.5 tonnes of CO2e a year for a single-occupancy car commute.

Emission factors used

Commuting footprint calculator — free, official emission factors | BlocCarbon