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Understanding Transportation Emissions

Category 3 under ISO 14064-1 covers indirect GHG emissions from transportation not covered in Categories 1 or 2. This includes transportation of materials, products, waste, employees, and business travelers using vehicles NOT owned or controlled by your organization.
Transportation Emission FormulaTransport Emissions = Distance × Emission FactorOr with weight:Freight Emissions = Distance × Weight × Emission Factor (per tonne-km)Where emission factors vary by transport mode, vehicle type, and load factor.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:
  • Dcycle API credentials (get them here)
  • Travel records (bookings, expense reports, travel agency data)
  • Employee commuting survey data or estimates
  • Freight shipment records (origin, destination, weight)
Using the Dcycle App?Track transportation emissions through our web interface:

Data Map: Category 3 Requirements

Business Travel

Track emissions from employee business trips including flights, ground transportation, and hotel stays.

Record Flight Travel

Where to get this data:
  • Travel bookings: Corporate travel systems, travel agencies
  • Expense reports: Employee expense claims
  • Airport codes: IATA 3-letter codes (e.g., MAD, LHR, JFK)
Distance or Locations RequiredYou must provide either distance_km OR both origin and destination. If you provide airport codes, Dcycle automatically calculates the distance.
Automatic Distance CalculationWhen you provide information for origin and destination, Dcycle automatically:
  • Calculates the flight distance
  • Determines the aircraft size category (very short, short, medium, long haul) based on Ecoinvent classification
  • Applies the appropriate emission factor from Ecoinvent

Record Rail Travel

Record Car Rental / Ground Transport

Employee Commuting

Employee commuting covers emissions from the transportation of employees between their homes and worksites in vehicles not owned or operated by your organization. This includes:
  • Daily commuting: Regular home-to-work travel
  • All transport modes: Car, public transit, cycling, walking
  • Remote work: Zero emissions for work-from-home days
  • Carpooling: Shared vehicle emissions (divided among passengers)
Employee Commuting vs Business Travel
  • Employee Commuting: Daily travel between home and work
  • Business Travel: Trips for business purposes (meetings, conferences, site visits)
Using the Dcycle App?You can track employee commuting through our web interface:
  • Send employee surveys (ES) - Collect data via email
  • Manual entry for individual employees
  • CSV bulk upload for HR data

Data Map: Employee Commuting Overview

Weekly Travels (Working Days)

The weekly_travels field defines which days of the week the employee commutes: Examples:
Remote Work / TeleworkSet weekly_travels: [] (empty array) for fully remote employees. Dcycle will calculate zero commuting emissions for these employees.

Transport Types

Vehicle options for cars:
CarpoolingWhen carpool: true, emissions are divided by 3 (average carpool occupancy). This encourages shared transportation and accurately reflects the lower per-person emissions.

Step 1: Create Employee Records

⚠️ Conditional requirements:
  • Either origin + destination OR total_km must be provided
Where to get this data:
  • Home location: HR records, employee surveys
  • Transport mode: Employee surveys
  • Working days: HR/scheduling systems

Common Commuting Scenarios

Step 2: Send Employee Surveys

Collect commuting data directly from employees via survey:
Survey QuestionsDcycle’s commuting survey asks employees:
  • Home location (address or postal code)
  • Primary transport mode
  • Vehicle details (if car)
  • Days worked in office per week
  • Carpooling (yes/no)

Step 3: Bulk Upload Employee Data

For organizations with many employees, use CSV upload:

CSV Format

CSV Notes:
  • total_km is one-way distance (home to office)
  • weekly_travels use format "[0,1,2,3,4]" (JSON array as string)
  • Empty "[]" for remote workers
  • carpool: true or false

Upload CSV

Commuting Reduction Strategies

Reduction Strategies for Employee Commuting
  1. Remote work policy: Allow 2+ days WFH per week
  2. Public transit subsidies: Incentivize train/bus use
  3. Cycle-to-work schemes: Provide bike facilities and subsidies
  4. Carpooling programs: Connect employees on similar routes
  5. Electric vehicle charging: Install workplace chargers
  6. Shuttle services: Provide company buses for major routes
  7. Flexible hours: Avoid peak traffic (lower congestion emissions)

Upstream Transportation

Track emissions from inbound freight - materials and products shipped TO your organization.
Where to get this data:
  • Shipment details: Supplier invoices, shipping documents
  • Weight: Bill of lading, packing lists
  • Origin: Supplier locations

Downstream Transportation

Track emissions from outbound freight - products shipped FROM your organization to customers.
Upstream vs Downstream Classification
  • Upstream: Inbound goods, raw materials from suppliers, waste sent for treatment
  • Downstream: Outbound products to customers, deliveries to distribution centers
Both are Category 3 under ISO 14064-1, but tracking separately helps identify reduction opportunities.

Query Category 3 Emissions

Retrieve all your transportation emissions for reporting:

Emission Factors

Dcycle uses emission factors from Ecoinvent 3.8 cutoff by classification for all Category 3 transportation calculations. Factors are automatically selected based on transport type, distance, vehicle characteristics, and regional variations.

Business Travel (Flights)

For aircraft travel, emission factors are selected based on:
  • Aircraft size category (very short, short, medium, long haul - determined by distance following Ecoinvent classification)
  • Origin location (regional adjustments)
  • Transport type (aircraft)
  • Renewable energy (if applicable)
Dcycle automatically determines the aircraft size based on flight distance:These distance thresholds are defined by Ecoinvent documentation for passenger air transport.Note: Cabin class (economy, business, first) is NOT used in calculations. Dcycle calculates emissions based on average passenger emissions per km for each aircraft size category from Ecoinvent.
Business travel flight emissions are calculated as:CO₂e = Distance (km) × Emission Factor (kg CO₂e/passenger-km) × Trip MultiplierWhere:
  • Distance: Calculated from IATA codes or provided directly
  • Emission Factor: Based on aircraft size category (from Ecoinvent)
  • Trip Multiplier: 2x for round trips, 1x for one-way
Example (Madrid to London round trip):

Ground Transportation (Car & Rail)

For car travel (business travel and commuting), emission factors depend on:
  • Vehicle size: small, medium, large
  • Fuel type: diesel, petrol, electric, hybrid, LPG, natural gas
Calculation:CO₂e = Distance (km) × Emission Factor (kg CO₂e/km)Where emission factors are specific to the vehicle size and fuel type combination from Ecoinvent.
For rail travel, emission factors depend on:
  • Origin location (regional grid factors for electric trains)
  • Renewable energy (yes, no, don’t know)
Rail typically produces 80-90% lower emissions than flying for the same distance.

Employee Commuting

Ecoinvent 3.8+ Cut-off
  • Lifecycle emission factors by transport mode
  • Regional variations where available
  • Covers cars, public transit, and active transport
  • Well-to-Wheel (WTW) factors including fuel production
When origin/destination are provided, distance is calculated using routing services. If geocoding fails or locations are unavailable, use total_km directly.
Employee commuting emissions are calculated as:CO₂e = Distance (km) × Days × Daily_Trips × Emission Factor × 2 (round trip)Where:
  • Distance: One-way distance from home to office
  • Days: Number of working days in the period (based on weekly_travels)
  • Daily_Trips: Number of trips per day (default: 1)
  • Emission Factor: Based on transport type from Ecoinvent
If carpool: true, the result is divided by 3 (average carpool occupancy).Example (Car commute, 5 days/week):

Freight Transportation

For freight transportation, emission factors depend on:
  • Transport mode: road, rail, sea, air
  • Vehicle type: truck size, ship type, aircraft type
  • Load factor: weight transported in tonnes
Calculation:CO₂e = Distance (km) × Weight (tonnes) × Emission Factor (kg CO₂e/tonne-km)Emission factors from Ecoinvent account for:
  • Fuel consumption per tonne-km
  • Vehicle efficiency
  • Empty return trips (where applicable)
Typical emission factors by transport mode (kg CO₂e per tonne-km):These are indicative ranges; actual factors depend on specific vehicle types and routes.

Best Practices

ISO 14064-1 Category 3 Best Practices
  1. Prioritize by materiality: Focus first on largest sources (usually flights and freight)
  2. Survey employees: Conduct annual commuting surveys for accurate data
  3. Integrate booking systems: Connect travel management systems for automatic capture
  4. Track trends: Monitor business travel patterns to identify reduction opportunities
  5. Consider alternatives: Rail vs. air, video conferencing vs. travel

Next Steps

Category 4: Products Used

Measure emissions from purchased goods and services

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