This is a translation of an original article written in Swedish for Network for Sustainable Industry and for Sustainable Business Hub available here and here.

Corporate sustainability teams have a lot on their plate – from production and energy use to supply chains and reporting requirements. But one factor that rarely gets the spotlight is employee commuting – even though it’s an area that’s relatively easy to address and can offer significant benefits, such as increased employer attractiveness, better employee health, and lower operational costs. Actively working with commuting is also a way to engage all employees – after all, everyone travels to work! And many travel for work, too.

How does it look today?

Commuting accounts for a significant share of Sweden’s total emissions — approximately 10% of all domestic CO₂ emissions per capita. Yet a review of Swedish sustainability reports shows that many companies do not report on these emissions at all. Those that do often rely on generalised estimates or assumptions.

Although total emissions from commuting are high on a national level, they typically represent a small fraction of an individual company’s climate footprint — which means they are often not prioritised.

However, commuting is a bit special compared to other emission sources. It’s something all employees contribute to, and it also affects other key areas of sustainability beyond emissions. Research shows that active commuting, such as cycling, can cut the risk of certain diseases in half and lead to healthier, more productive employees — which in turn translates into cost savings for the company.

It also impacts the company’s sustainability image and attractiveness. When a clear majority of people say they want to work for companies that take sustainability seriously, the question becomes: how credible is a company’s sustainability commitment if a large share of its employees drive fossil-fuel cars to work?

What's counted counts

Reporting based on assumptions or generic figures provides neither an accurate picture nor the opportunity to identify areas that could support improvement within the organisation.

We know from numerous travel behaviour surveys that there is significant variation in how employees commute — variation that is not reflected in standardised estimates. In 21 organisations based in Lund, as part of the collaborative project CoAction Lund, the proportion of employees commuting by car ranged from 14% to 77%, and commuting-related carbon emissions varied between 0.1 and 1.0 tonnes per employee per year. These figures take into account how frequently employees are on site, the modes of transport used, and the type of fuel.

Compared to commuting travel, most companies have a good oversight of business travel emissions, as these are often handled via contracted travel agencies and internal systems.

Ola Trulsson, Environment Manager Sweden at Tetra Pak and participant in CoAction Lund, explains:

“At Tetra Pak, we have carried out employee travel surveys in Lund since 2019. These have not only provided us with valuable knowledge about our employees’ commuting habits, but also revealed which measures are likely to be most effective. The climate impact of commuting becomes measurable, which is important to us in light of increasing reporting requirements. But above all, it enables us to take more effective action to support sustainable commuting – both to reduce the organisation’s climate footprint and to promote employee wellbeing and health.”

With the right data and insights, an organisation can meet its reporting obligations while also gaining a solid foundation for making well-informed, high-impact decisions – benefiting employees, the business, and wider society.

Insights that can support action

To work effectively with commuting data, it is important to collect relevant information — such as mode of transport, travel distance, travel frequency, and ideally also geographic details. There are two main methods for doing this, both based on survey techniques: online questionnaires and automated data collection via mobile apps. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice depends on the purpose of the data collection.

What matters most is that both methods — unlike generalised estimates — help organisations understand the current situation, identify appropriate measures, and track progress over time. This is what’s needed to unlock real value for the business.

Find out more

• References on benefits of working with employee transport from Travalytics blog

• Article workplace mobility strategies (Swedish)

• Article impacts of workplace mobility strategies (Swedish)