Revolutionising the commute is key to reducing CO2 emissions

Revolutionising the commute is key to reducing carbon emissions, according to new research conducted by Mobilityways. 

Transport is the biggest source of carbon emissions in the UK and commuting accounts for 25% of these.

Mobilityways, a new organisation that helps businesses achieve zero-carbon commuting has analysed travel data from 285,000 commuters across 200 major UK employers.

The researchers found that 42% of commuters could walk or cycle, 46% could use public transport and 92% could share lifts.

However, in reality, just 15% of commuters currently walk or cycle, 18% use public transport and 10% share a car.

According to the data, 10 billion kilograms of CO2 could be saved if people commuted by walking, cycling, public transport or car-sharing — This is equivalent to London’s carbon emissions for almost four months.

According to Mobilityways, the opportunity to reduce commuter emissions is currently being missed.

The Department for Transport’s Decarbonising Transport document, published in March 2020, does not mention commuters or the importance of employer travel plans.

In addition, current rules for the public sector and business reporting of greenhouse gas emissions do not consider commuting and business miles,  according to Mobilityways the government are bypassing an important opportunity to incentivise and motivate employers to tackle the issue.

Ali Clabburn, CEO of Mobilityways, said: ‘Zero carbon pledges cannot be met without reducing emissions from transport — which means decarbonising the daily commute is critical.

‘Our commuting habits have barely changed in thirty years, we know that there is vast latent potential for people to travel more sustainably when they need to get to their workplace.

‘But working from home also has a big part to play — we saw the national ACEL fall by 20 per cent at the peak of lockdown.

‘Employers play an essential role in decarbonising the commute. Covid-19 is forcing businesses to re-examine their entire ways of working. As organisations overhaul their operations to manage social distancing and the health of their workforce, it’s vital that commuting is considered as part of this mix.’

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