Category 7 — Employee Commuting covers GHG emissions from the transportation of employees between their homes and their regular workplaces, in vehicles not owned or operated by the reporting company. This includes private cars, motorcycles, public transit (bus, metro, train), cycling (for some frameworks), and carpooling.
What Is Included
- Car commuting (petrol, diesel, hybrid, and electric vehicles)
- Motorcycle and moped commuting
- Public transport (bus, coach, tram, metro, commuter rail)
- Ride-hailing and taxi commuting
- Cycling and walking are typically excluded (zero-emission modes)
Employee commuting is one of the categories most directly shaped by company decisions on work location. A company that moves its headquarters to a transit-accessible urban centre, or implements a remote-work policy, materially reduces Category 7 emissions - even without changing its own operations at all.
What Is Not Included
- Travel in company-owned vehicles (Scope 1)
- Business travel (Category 6)
- Commuting by employees of franchisees or contractors (unless the company consolidates them under its organisational boundary)
Calculation Methods
Method 1: Survey-Based Method (Most Accurate)
Collects data directly from employees via an annual travel survey capturing:
- Commute distance (one-way)
- Number of days worked per year
- Transport mode(s) used and percentage of trips by each mode
This provides actual commute patterns rather than estimates.
Category 7 - Employee Commuting Emissions (Survey-Based)
Category 7 Emissions
Total annual emissions from employee commuting, in tCO₂e
Employees
Number of employees commuting by this transport mode
Commute Days
Number of working days commuted per year
One-Way Distance
One-way commute distance in km, multiplied by 2 for the return trip
Mode Share
Fraction of trips using this transport mode (0-1)
Emission Factor
tCO₂e per passenger-km for the commute mode
Method 2: Distance-Based Method Without Survey
Uses average commute distances from national or regional statistics, applied to headcount.
Method 3: Spend-Based Method
Uses EIO emission factors per unit of spend on commuter transport allowances. Least accurate.
Emission Factors by Commute Mode
| Mode | Emission Factor (kgCO₂e/passenger-km) |
|---|---|
| Petrol car (driver only) | 0.168 |
| Diesel car (driver only) | 0.164 |
| Battery electric vehicle (UK grid) | 0.053 |
| Motorcycle (petrol) | 0.114 |
| National rail (UK average) | 0.035 |
| London Underground | 0.028 |
| Local bus | 0.102 |
A company has 200 employees who commute by car. The average one-way commute is 15 km. Employees commute 220 days per year. The emission factor for petrol cars is 0.168 kgCO₂e/passenger-km. What are the annual Category 7 car-commuting emissions in tCO₂e?
Accounting for Remote Work
The COVID-19 pandemic increased working from home substantially. For Category 7, days worked remotely reduce commuting emissions (fewer commute trips). However, remote work also shifts energy consumption to employees' homes, which may be partially captured in other frameworks (though typically not in Scope 3).
When calculating Category 7 in a hybrid-work environment:
- Survey employees on both their commute details AND their number of in-office days
- Apply commuting emissions only to office days, not remote days
- Track changes in remote-work rates year over year as part of intensity analysis
Reduction Strategies
- Remote and hybrid working policies: Each remote day eliminates one return commute
- Office location: Urban, transit-accessible offices reduce average car commute distances
- Subsidised public transit: Passes and subsidies shift mode share from private car to lower-emission alternatives
- Cycling incentives: Secure parking, showers, and cycle-to-work schemes
- Electric vehicle charging: On-site EV charging and salary sacrifice car schemes accelerate the shift to zero-emission commuting
- Shuttle buses: Company-operated or contracted shuttle buses consolidate multiple commuters into a single vehicle (though driver-only emissions are Scope 1)
Category 7 is the one Scope 3 category where the company can directly influence employee behaviour rather than supplier behaviour. A well-designed commuting policy - remote work + transit subsidies + EV charging - can reduce Category 7 emissions by 40-70% without changing a single business process.
When employees work from home, they consume electricity and heating in their home offices rather than commuting to an office. Some sustainability practitioners argue that these "home office" emissions should be included in the company's Scope 3 inventory, even though they are not captured in any of the 15 standard categories. The GHG Protocol does not currently require or formally accommodate home office emissions reporting, but some companies disclose it voluntarily as a supplementary metric alongside Category 7.
Key Takeaways
- 1Category 7 covers employee home-to-work commuting in vehicles not owned by the company - the one Scope 3 category most directly shaped by company location and work-from-home policies
- 2The survey-based method (collecting actual commute data from employees) produces the most accurate results
- 3In hybrid work environments, apply commuting emissions only to in-office days and track remote work rates year over year
- 4A well-designed commuting policy combining remote work, transit subsidies, and EV charging can reduce Category 7 by 40-70%
- 5Petrol cars emit roughly 0.17 kgCO2e/passenger-km while rail emits about 0.035 - shifting mode share to public transit delivers large reductions