Employee commuting sits under Scope 3, Category 7 of the GHG Protocol – indirect emissions that organizations don’t directly control but can meaningfully influence. For most large enterprises, commuting is one of the largest and most addressable Scope 3 emission sources. Unlike supply chain emissions, which require extensive supplier engagement to move, commute emissions respond directly to decisions organizations make about how they design and operate their transport programs. This guide covers how to measure, reduce, and report on commute emissions in a way that satisfies ESG obligations and drives genuine impact.

Establish a Credible Emissions Baseline

Reduction targets without a baseline are unverifiable and increasingly, so are ESG claims built on them.

• Calculate total commute emissions using actual trip data: kilometers traveled by vehicle type, multiplied by the appropriate emission factor for each fuel type (petrol, diesel, CNG, EV)
• Segment emissions by route, location, shift, and vehicle type – aggregate numbers are useful for reporting; segmented numbers tell you where to intervene
• Account for both company-operated transport and employee-owned vehicle commutes if your ESG framework requires full Category 7 coverage – employee surveys and commute distance data are the typical inputs for the latter

MoveInSync’s sustainability dashboard calculates fleet emissions automatically from trip data, giving you an audit-ready baseline without manual calculation

Reduce Emissions Through Utilization and Mode Shift

The fastest emission reductions come from operational changes, not fleet replacement. Start here before investing in EVs.

• Consolidate individual cabs into shared transport – the per-passenger emission factor drops dramatically as occupancy increases. A fully occupied shuttle produces a fraction of the per-person emissions of solo cabs running the same corridor
• Optimize routes to reduce total kilometers driven – a 20–25% reduction in kilometers driven is a direct emissions reduction of the same magnitude, achievable through AI-based route optimization without any change to fleet composition
• Shift employees to metro feeder services – replacing cab journeys with metro plus a short feeder bus significantly reduces per-employee emissions on high-density corridors
• Integrate with attendance systems – in hybrid work environments, deploying vehicles on low-attendance days generates emissions with no corresponding business purpose. Demand-based scheduling eliminates this

Transition Your Fleet to Lower-Emission Vehicles

Utilization improvements reduce emissions within your current fleet. Fleet transition reduces the baseline further.

• Set EV and CNG fleet percentage targets in vendor contract renewals and track actual deployment against commitments. Vendor promises without verification don’t count toward ESG targets
• Prioritize EV deployment on high-frequency urban routes where range and charging infrastructure support it; use CNG as an intermediate step on longer routes where EVs aren’t yet practical

MoveInSync tracks vehicle fuel type at the trip level, enabling accurate emission calculations rather than approximations based on fleet mix assumptions

Meet ESG Reporting Requirements

Measuring and reducing emissions is only part of the obligation. Documentation and disclosure need to hold up to scrutiny.

• SEBI’s BRSR framework, mandatory for India’s top 1000 listed companies, requires Scope 3 emissions disclosure. Transport data needs to be audit-ready, not assembled retrospectively
• Align your measurement methodology with the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard and document your emission factors and calculation approach as auditors will ask
• Track year-on-year reduction against your baseline and set specific, time-bound targets – “reduce commute emissions by 30% by FY2027 against a FY2024 baseline” is a disclosure-ready target

MoveInSync generates ESG-ready emissions reports with the trip-level data, vehicle mix breakdown, and methodology documentation needed for BRSR and voluntary frameworks like GRI and CDP