Advanced options
What The Commute Cost Calculator Works Out
- Per week: daily round-trip miles multiplied by commuting days, divided by mpg and converted through the UK gallon (4.546 litres) at the pump price, plus daily parking and tolls. A 30-mile daily round trip at 45 mpg and typical petrol prices is about GBP 25 a week before parking.
- Per month and per year: the weekly figure multiplied by 52 weeks and divided by 12. The same commute is roughly GBP 110 a month and GBP 1,300 a year, and a modest GBP 5 daily parking charge nearly doubles it.
- Pence per mile: the honest fuel-and-parking comparator against a train season ticket or bus pass, shown under the annual figure.
- Commuting weeks per year (advanced): the simple mode assumes 52; most people with 5 to 6 weeks of leave actually commute 46 to 47 weeks, which trims the annual total by about 10%.
- Full cost including wear (advanced): the miles at a full running-cost rate instead of fuel alone. HMRC's 45p per mile approved rate exists because depreciation, insurance, servicing and tyres roughly match or exceed fuel, so a full-cost commute is typically two to three times the fuel-only number.
- Your share if car sharing (advanced): the full cost divided between everyone in the car. Two people sharing halves everything for the price of coordination.
- Saving from more home working (advanced): the annual fuel and parking saved by adding home days. Two remote days a week on a five-day commute cut the figure by 40%, the strongest personal-finance argument in the flexible working conversation.
- Public transport instead (advanced): a daily fare multiplied by your commuting days and weeks, compared against the full car cost rather than fuel alone, which is the comparison that usually flips the answer.
- CO2 per year (advanced): annual litres multiplied by 2.31 kg for petrol or 2.68 kg for diesel (DEFRA conversion factors). A 30-mile daily petrol commute emits roughly 1.7 tonnes a year.
- Table by office days (advanced): the fuel-only, full-cost and public transport totals for 1 to 5 office days a week, for weighing up job offers, office moves and hybrid patterns. Commuting to a regular workplace is not tax-deductible for employees.
Further reading: RAC Fuel Watch and GOV.UK: mileage rates.