Carbon Footprint of Car Pooling Measured: How Much CO2 Does Car Pooling Save?

Everyone knows that car pooling reduces emissions, but have you ever wondered about the exact carbon footprint of car pooling?

Whether it’s commuting to work, transporting food home from the grocery store, or traveling to a hospital—we’re highly dependent on the ability to efficiently move ourselves and goods from place to place. Being able to travel is an important part of our social lives too.

However, transportation doesn’t just come with a monetary cost—it comes with an environmental one as well.

In 2022, burning fossil fuels accounted for 28% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions.¹ How you choose to travel from place to place has a massive environmental impact and contributes each personalized carbon footprint.

Luckily, there are easy ways to reduce the amount of transportation-related greenhouse gases we generate each year.

This guide outlines how much you can reduce when you car pool.

Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Carpooling vs. Solo Driving

When assessing the carbon footprint of car pooling vs solo driving, remember that a carbon footprint calculation encompasses all of the greenhouse gas emissions generated from a certain action.

(Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency⁵)

Carpooling still results in some low level of carbon emissions, though it’s significantly less than solo-passenger commutes. However, the process of establishing a carpooling program can be done with minimal impact on the environment.

If you’re wondering how to calculate carbon footprint manually, stop and think about all of the actions involved in planning a carpooling program and sharing a ride. In reality, any carbon emissions generated from starting a carpooling plan and sharing a ride to a common location are negligible, but worth noting:

• Planning Your Carpooling Program: Choosing who will participate in your carpooling program, drop-off and pick-up points, and commuting schedules.
• Establishing a Communication Strategy: Defining the cadence and methods for communicating schedules and changes to plans.
• Commuting to the Meet-Up Destination: Carpooling will likely require some degree of solo travel to a pick-up or drop-off point or incremental mileage in relation to a traditional commute for the purposes of picking up or dropping-off riders.

For example, the average passenger vehicle emits about 400 grams of CO₂ per mile.⁵ Let’s assume the pick-up and drop-off locations result in 4 incremental miles of solo travel each day and you carpool two days a week for a year—this would result in 166.4 kilograms of carbon emissions annually.

The carbon footprint of car pooling is still far better than the CO₂ generated from a full commute.

Carpooling and Your Carbon Footprint

So what is a carbon footprint exactly? It’s the sum of all greenhouse gasses generated by our actions.

For those who drive significant miles to work, activities, or vacations, carpooling is one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

Carpooling is when two or more people share a ride in the same vehicle.

By choosing to hitch a ride with a friend, family member, or coworker, you can dramatically reduce fuel consumption—especially if you can make it a long-term habit. Because we’re constantly driving or traveling places—there are ample opportunities for carpooling.

We have quantified the greenhouse gas emissions you can eliminate by carpooling earlier. Now, we’ll walk through the environmental benefits of sharing rides.

Carpooling Benefits: Carbon Footprint of Car Pooling

Carpooling began in the 1940s as a conservation method to save on fuel and limit wear and tear on vehicles.²

The popularity of carpooling tends to increase during economic downturns or times when it’s necessary to conserve fuel.³ However, this commuting strategy has been used by government agencies, employers, and everyday people for decades because it offers a wide variety of benefits including:⁸

• Environmental Protection: Carpooling significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which is the leading cause of global warming and climate change. If you’re driving less, then you’re consuming and burning less fossil fuels.
• Cost Savings: Sharing a ride with others allows you to drastically reduce fuel and maintenance expenses.
• Less Traffic: Fewer cars on the road isn’t just good for the environment, it also means less traffic congestion and faster commute times for everyone.
• Decreased Pollution: Fewer cars also means less pollution, which can help prevent asthma and other respiratory diseases.
• Opportunity To Socialize: You can spend your commuting time getting to know friends, family, or coworkers.

Gasoline-powered cars produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a heat-trapping gas that causes global warming and climate change. Sharing rides to work, school, or activities can ease the negative environmental impact of commuting while helping you to save money and reduce the number of cars on the road.

Unfortunately, carpooling is a highly underutilized climate-change mitigation strategy today. While higher fuel costs typically lead to a rise in carpooling, passenger vehicles are typically only carrying an average of 1.57 people per trip globally.⁴

While you might think the rise of paid rideshare services could help, they’re most often used for single-person transportation.

Highlighting the benefits of carpooling, spreading awareness of the carbon footprint of car pooling, and enacting policy changes would be the most effective ways to increase adoption all over the world.