Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Long-Distance Travel Business: How Far Can We Go?

Abstract

Long-distance (LD) travel accounts for over 30% of person-trip miles, with important energy and emissions impact. LD business travel can often be replaced by remote participation, so targeting such trips for cost, time, and emissions savings may be a wise strategy for protection of the climate, budgets, and human health. To appreciate Americans’ LD travel choices better, a 73-question online survey was conducted in 2019 that captured 2,327 LD (over 100 mi each way) trips made by 929 respondents during the previous 12 months, of which 490 round trips were for business purposes. Predictive models for LD trips per adult per year, overnights, LD travel times, and willingness to participate remotely and/or purchase carbon offsets for those trips were developed using respondents in Austin only. As expected, those educated to degree level tend to travel more often, for both business and nonbusiness purposes; everything else is constant. People who undertake LD travel more frequently are more likely to spend less time in transit/en route. Single people or those from large households educated to degree level are more likely to be willing to pay for the carbon emissions produced by their flights. Out of the 298 LD business trips made by Austinites, remote participation is possible for approximately a quarter, and the respondents involved are willing to participate remotely in 44% of those trips. In other words, Austinites appeared willing to participate remotely in slightly over 10% of their business trips overall, at least before the COVID-19 pandemic. This is definitely not enough to address climate change concerns as a result of carbon emissions from LD travel.