1. Agree the boundary with the ESG team
GHG Protocol places employees’ travel between home and work in Scope 3 category 7. Its technical guidance includes a method based on distances and transport modes. This helps define the required data without establishing a universal share of commuting in every company’s footprint.
Define the entities, workplaces and reporting period covered. Business journeys during the day should be identified separately from commuting and classified by the team responsible for the company inventory. In a multi-tenant building, a building dashboard does not replace occupiers’ organisational inventories.
2. Collect information suited to each purpose
For fleet operations, BICILUM recommends simple indicators: available bikes, loans, active users and repairs. These show where the service needs improvement. For commuting analysis, design a separate survey about approximate distances, transport modes and frequency. Publish the response rate alongside the results.
Adapt questions to hybrid work and combined journeys. Someone may use both a train and a bike on the same day. Do not automatically convert a stated distance to the office into annual mileage. Check actual commuting days and document any extrapolation, including poorly represented groups.
3. Make calculation assumptions visible
In a purely illustrative example, 10 people cycling an 8-kilometre return journey on 20 days cover 1,600 kilometres in total. This is an activity calculation, not a demonstrated carbon saving. Interpretation requires knowing which journeys were replaced and how representative those days were.
Any conversion to emissions should identify the factor, year, geography, unit and boundary. Check the distinction between vehicle-kilometres and passenger-kilometres. If a source covers the full life cycle, compare alternatives on compatible boundaries and explain the limitations.
4. Do not equate every kilometre with a replaced car trip
A loan may replace walking, public transport or a car journey. It may also be a new recreational trip. Ask participants separately about the realistic alternative rather than treating every bike use as an identical emissions reduction.
Present scenario estimates separately from measured indicators. Under GHG Protocol, avoided emissions outside the inventory are reported separately and are not deducted from Scope 3. A before-and-after comparison should account for changes in headcount, office days, season and workplace location. If information is missing, retain the result as a usage indicator and describe the data needed for the next analysis.
5. Turn observations into better services
Low use can guide a discussion about booking, destination parking or confidence in traffic. Connect the review with action: training, maintenance, workshops and fleet adjustments. For internal presentations, favour aggregate results and sufficiently large groups; agree access and retention arrangements in advance.
BICILUM supports programme organisation and collection of agreed indicators, without replacing verification of the emissions inventory. For projects in Romania and France, request a feasibility assessment and a technical and financial proposal connecting equipment, services and reporting with the company’s needs.
FAQ
Practical questions
Are app loan records sufficient for Scope 3?+
No. They describe the observed fleet. A commuting analysis needs to cover the company boundary and relevant transport modes, with documented assumptions.
Can we publish a CO₂ reduction after the pilot?+
Only if the data and method support the claim, with a transparent baseline, factors and limitations. Otherwise, publish usage and feedback without speculative conversions.