TRAVEL

So many ways to get there with less carbon.

Share a ride with others or travel by bike or foot instead. Take this step and decide a level of commitment that works for you. Try it for a month to see how you do.

Try it

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What kind of fuel does your car use?

Get Around Greener

Short car journeys are responsible for more carbon emissions than you might think. Replacing them with other ways to travel will cut your emissions and reduce air pollution in your neighborhood. If you can replace your journey with a walk or cycle it will probably make you healthier and happier, too. Even if you can’t walk or cycle, you can still make a change that matters by replacing car journeys with taking a bus, train, carpool or electric bike instead.

Individual Impact

Combined Impact

Effort

Tips

All you need to start walking is a pair of comfortable shoes. If you want to cycle but don’t already have a bike, consider buying one second hand, or check if your employer has a scheme to help with your purchase. Electric bikes are becoming more popular because of how convenient and cost effective they are.

Find out about your local public buses and trains. Start a carpool at school or work. There are plenty of apps that can help you plan your ridesharing.

If none of these options are possible, you could try Drive Electric or Hybrid.

Benefits

Short journeys by car may feel insignificant but they have a big impact. In some countries, more than 40% of car journeys are less than 2 miles long. Fewer cars on the road means less air pollution and cleaner air for you and your family to breathe.

Walking and cycling is the cleanest way you can get around, and helps you burn calories. But changing to public transport for longer journeys could have an even bigger impact. If more people took streetcars, buses, and subways instead of cars, we could save up to 23 gigatons of carbon emissions and up to US$6 trillion in costs. Supporting public transport could motivate local authorities to invest in improvements.

Steps

REFERENCES

40% of UK car journeys are less than 2 miles.
ONS
Cars emit twice as much pollution in first five minutes.
EQUA Index
Walking or cycling for 30 mins burns 99 cal or more.
NHS
Walking helps you become more productive and alert.
The Guardian
If public transit use is instead managed to decline more slowly by 2050 this solution can save 7.5–23 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions from cars. Consumers would save US$2.1–6.6 trillion in mobility costs.
Project Drawdown, Public Transit
In 2018, electric-bike riders traveled around 586 billion km, largely in China. Based on market research, it is projected to increase to 2–3.4 trillion km per year by 2050.
Project Drawdown, Electric bicycles
Impact metric calculations
To determine the carbon emission reduction estimates related to switching to greener forms of transit such as train, bus, carpooling, walking or cycling, the following calculations were performed:
(Fossil fuel car; kg CO2e/month) – (Lower emitting alternative; kg CO2e/month)
Fossil fuel car:
(miles/week) / (miles/gallon) x (kg CO2e/gallon) x (weeks/month) = kg CO2e/ month
Public transit (rail/train, bus/coach), electric bicycle, walking or cycling:
(# of journeys/week) x (miles/journey) x (kg CO2e/mile) x (weeks/month) = kg CO2e / month
Carpooling:
(# of journeys/week) x (miles/journey) x (kg CO2e/mile) / (assumed carpooling occupancy) x (weeks/month) = kg CO2e / month
For detailed calculations, references and assumptions, please see our Methodology page.

Impact metric calculations