Taxi journeys: carbon footprint per passenger-km
Live factor value
0.14861 kgCO2e per passenger-km
Source: UK DESNZ greenhouse-gas conversion factors, 2026 (revision 2). Factor set desnz-2026-r2.
Taxis carry one of the highest per-passenger-km factors of any land transport mode in the official DESNZ 2026 tables — shown live below — because the published figure accounts for empty running between fares as well as the trip you take.
That makes the taxi factor noticeably higher than driving your own car the same distance. For airport runs and late-night journeys it is often the only option, but on footprint grounds it is the land mode to economise on first.
Worked example
A 25 km airport taxi transfer: 25 × 0.14861 = 3.7 kgCO2e.
Measure your own with the free travel calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is a taxi's footprint higher than driving my own car?
- The official factor includes 'dead mileage' — the empty running taxis do between fares — spread across passenger journeys, which pushes the per-passenger-km figure above a privately driven car.