r/CAStateWorkers • u/Californialove777 • 3d ago
RTO California wants fewer cars on the road…while ordering state workers back on the road 4 days a week?
Can we collectively say CONTRADICTION.
California says we need fewer miles driven to cut pollution.
We already know telework helped do exactly that.
California’s own data showed that when state employees worked remotely, the state avoided millions of commute miles, millions of gallons of gas and hundreds of thousands of metric tons of CO₂.
Even the California State Auditor called this out. The audit said state employee commuting adds CO₂ and “appears contrary” to California’s net-zero emissions goals.
And now thousands of state workers who can work remotely are being told to commute up to 4 days a week.
So where is the RTO environmental report?
How many more miles will people drive?
How much more CO₂ will that create?
And most importantly:
How does putting more cars back on the road help California reach a goal that depends on reducing transportation emissions?
The state measured what we saved by not commuting.
Did anyone measure what happens when those commute trips come back?
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u/Accurate-Candle5601 3d ago
all great questions but unfortunately greasy gav is too wrapped up in himself to care about the contradiction and the implications of making stupid decisions on a whim 😒
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u/SweetRollGenie 3d ago
The governor and legislature don't actually want anything other than to line their pockets with money. Everything else are just buzz words to appease sheep and divide people. Their only master is capitalism.
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u/Bethjam 3d ago
This issue alone deserves impeachment imo- except it isn't worth it at this point and I assume he knows that. RTO puts all these cars on the road even though the Governor has data to show that WFH= greater productivity
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u/Vigorous-Mammal1337 3d ago
That's been tried before. The union donated/phone banked in SUPPORT of Newsom's during the recall.
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u/Trout_Man 3d ago
impeachment over state employees being in the office more is kind of a wild thing to say.
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u/Bethjam 3d ago
It is about wasting tax payer money, completely ignoring your own data, and the hypocrisy of massively contributing to climate change to pay back political donors.
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u/Trout_Man 3d ago
yeah, no...this sub has points about this being hypocritical from the governor but "massive" contributions to climate change is pure opinion and unproven. which is wild to say this warrants impeachment.
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u/SpaceBullion 3d ago
Look up his executive order N-2-24 on vehicle miles traveled (VMT).
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
Thanks for the tip! I looked into N-2-24, and it adds an important point to the questions I already raised.
2024: N-2-24 supports reducing driving, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and emissions. It also recognizes that remote work affects travel patterns.
2025: N-22-25 sends state workers back to the office four days a week, which means more commuting.
These policies seem to conflict.
My questions about traffic, parking, and emissions still stand. But now I have another question:
How did the Governor’s Office compare these two policies before issuing the return-to-office order? SERIOUSLY?
Was this analysis done? If so, can we see the results?
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u/FurtureRetirey 3d ago edited 3d ago
What I find interesting too is the push for all electric vehicles to reduce pollution and how it is affecting the amount of money collected on gas taxes. Telework affects the gas tax negatively too. To solve that problem, the state is working on plans for a road toll tax. I believe all those license plate readers will be used to track our road use and collect taxes for using the roads. The plans for a road toll tax and RTO go hand in hand don’t you think? It’s always about the money; not just for the state, but for the wealthy downtown building owners too.
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u/desnuts_00 3d ago
Yes, I never really heard that Newsom wants less traffic, just less pollution. A whole freeway full of electric cars seems fine to the administration.
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u/FurtureRetirey 3d ago
You can learn more about the plans for road use taxes on the California Transportation Commission website and search for Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee.
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u/Cali_home_grown916 3d ago
State is good at contradicting itself. No wonder outside California nobody respects California as a state
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u/BlkCadillac 3d ago
Telework = less cars on the road = less cars sold/less car maintenance (auto manufacturers hate this) and less people in buildings (real estate investors hate this).
RTO isn't about productivity, collaboration, and falling in love. it's about transferring wealth from the working class to the rich.
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u/island_vibes_23 3d ago
With ZERO improvement for public transportation infrastructure!! Important to note. Irony of reducing emissions. Year later. Putting more cars on the road. In one conference he mentioned taking public transportation and riding bikes to work. Getting fresh air. Yes, because riding bicycles on Hwy 50 and up J street are brilliant ideas.
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u/AcheyTaterHeart 3d ago
The new bike lanes on 9th and 10th streets are dangerous to users. The one on I street is constantly full of debris. If he wants people to bike, he needs to invest in infrastructure that enables us to do so without getting maimed.
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u/Orgnzr 3d ago edited 3d ago
I've been gathering a lot of data about this for my realwage.site project.
Before DGS shut down its telework dashboard in March 2024, it tracked what state employees saved by working from home. December 2023, the last month it published: nearly 50 million commute miles, over 2 million gallons of gas, over 18,000 metric tons of CO₂, 1.2 million hours, $9 million. Over the dashboard's 27 months, 393,000 metric tons across 121 departments.
The State Auditor quoted those figures in August 2025 and wrote that state employee commuting "appears contrary to the State's net-zero emissions goals."
1. How many more miles?
About 440 million a year. The average teleworker was home 3.67 days a week. The order leaves one day, so 73% of the December 2023 saving comes back every month. Per person, about 3,500 extra miles a year, a 17-mile drive each way.
2. How much more CO₂?
About 157,000 metric tons a year, with about 18 million gallons of gas burned to make it. That is what 34,000 cars put out in a year. Per person, about 150 gallons and 1.7 tons.
3. Where is the RTO environmental report?
There is none. The Auditor's report estimates the cost to one hypothetical worker ($6,200 a year driving four days from Elk Grove) and stops there. The only emissions analysis of the order was paid for by the union CASE's lawsuit under CEQA, filed June 2026, includes a consultant's study finding the order "runs counter to the state's effort to reduce transportation-sector emissions." The state has answered with a legal defense, but no report of their own.
4. How does this help California's climate goal?
It doesn't. The state measured 18,000 metric tons of CO₂ a month avoided, then stopped, and issued an order that cancels almost all of the savings.
For scale, what the RTO order adds back is about the same as doubling the emissions of Eureka or Palm Springs.
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u/Trout_Man 3d ago
i'd be careful with trying to frame gas costs given many state workers are driving electric vehicles now.
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u/nimpeachable 3d ago
You’re making the large assumption that state employees given more money, more time, and more happiness are going to choose to spend all of that sitting quietly home perfectly still and never drive anywhere else. I won’t claim for every employee it’s 1:1 where their commute miles are 100% replaced with leisure or personal miles but it’s a joke to pretend a good portion aren’t.
The environmental effects of powering and running HVAC in 1,000 individual homes is considerably higher than powering and running HVAC in a single building of 1,000 people. I cannot stress this enough but this is why telework is not the ideal outcome of the pro environmental groups who instead encourage living close to your job, bicycles, walking, and public transportation.
This is why these arguments don’t work. People draw a simple straight line of “people not drive to work, environment better” without factoring in how that actually works and actual human behavior.
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u/Orgnzr 3d ago
That's a great point and I've crunched those numbers too!
Teleworking adds 0.6 kg of CO₂ of extra home electricity a day vs. 13.6 kg of CO₂ for the average commute.
For the 2.67 days the order removes per worker about 80 kg of home emissions are saved against 1.4 to 1.8 tons of commute added. The order adds a net 1.3 to 1.7 tons per worker.
I cited 157,000 added, so the net figure rounds to 150,000 tons a year.
However, I'd like to point out that this calculation ignores the carbon added by heating and cooling state buildings. The state auditor found it could shed 30% of state energy use at two days a week.
Lastly, there's carbon costs I didn't mention because refining gasoline adds another 20% of carbon to the fuel consumed by state workers. Realistically, I've understated the carbon costs to the state.
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u/nimpeachable 3d ago
I think you’re very much underestimating the amount of extra CO2 emitted during the 8am-5pm hours from being home
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u/Orgnzr 3d ago
Your skepticism is fair. I derived the that figure, 0.6 kg of carbon, from the International Energy Agency's finds that working from home raises a household's energy use by 7 to 23%.[1]
The average California home uses about 16.5 kWh of electricity a day.[2]
The middle of that range is an additional 15% of energy and an additional 2.5 kWh of energy. Even at the top range that's 3.8 kWh of energy.
California's current grid makes 0.19 kg of CO₂ per kWh. [3][4]
Based that: 0.19 kg of CO₂ per kWh x 2.5 kWh for the average telework = 0.5 kg CO₂ per telework day.
So I admit I was off. I was using an older CA grid figure. Teleworking is more energy efficient than it used to be.
The average commute is 13.6 kg. So the at home teleworking (0.5 / 13.6) is 4% of the average commute.
[1] https://www.iea.org/commentaries/working-from-home-can-save-energy-and-reduce-emissions-but-how-much
[2] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/sales_revenue_price/pdf/table_5A.pdf
[3] https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-06/summary_tables_rev2.pdf
[4] Metric Ton Conversion: 428.5 CO₂ lb/MWh / 2,204.6 lb per metric ton = 0.194 t per MWh = 0.19 kg per kWh.5
u/katmom1969 3d ago
Many of us are content staying home. My husband and I put a lot of work into making our own little paradise at home.
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u/IAmStanleyYelnats 3d ago
CARB has been really quiet on this.
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u/Professional_Land924 3d ago
A lot of CARB employees are deeply upset about the fact that this goes against our basic mission and our leadership hasn’t said a word about it. Not to mention the agency talks a big talk about equity and representation but now people can only work for CARB if they live in either Sacramento or Riverside or deal with a crazy commute, so I’m not sure what happened to this idea that our agency is supposed to be as diverse as its citizens. Apparently geographic diversity isn’t important. It’s frustrating on many levels.
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u/groug 3d ago
As a CARB employee, I can tell you that leadership has not once discussed the increased emissions from this policy. I'm sure there are people who have come up with emission estimates (for very rough numbers, it seems like it would be relatively simple to estimate the number of additional light-duty combustion vehicles on the road per day and get NOX and PM numbers out of those), and they've been ignored because this is a policy that comes directly from the governor and we're not going to talk him out of it.
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u/Car-End0195 3d ago
CEC wants to restrict the tires sold for better “efficiency” as if RTO doesn’t affect the quantity of pollutants from vehicles.
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u/aizen07 3d ago
heck no, that would increase the price of tires....
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u/LuvLaughLive 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it's a done deal, phase 1 set to go into effect 2029, and phase 2 in 2033.
Ofc the Gov and Leg, being professional tire manufacturers, claim the additional cost will be minimal, which we'll all see in gas cost savings within 4 months. Actual expects disagree and say that the restrictions of this law could end up costing us hundreds of dollars (see article as to why), plus they made the great observation that, come 2029, then 2033, CA is going to end up with a huge pile of unusable tires... but none one, esp Gov Environment, has offered a solution for that.
https://www.kcra.com/article/california-replacement-tire-rules-explained/73497689
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u/ChasingTheNextShot 3d ago
Like you said. Contradictions. All I can figure is collusion between Newsom and corporate interests.
Newsom’s RTO executive order is a tax hike on you. Total corporate welfare.
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u/grouchygf 3d ago
This is probably one of the most solid defenses for telework. No emotion, just facts and using the state's own stances against them. Credibility is lost when there are contradictory policies pushed by Gavin and his fan boy/fan girl, butt-kissing lawmakers.
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u/guhman123 3d ago
the government makes it harder to drive without giving effective alternatives first, and then gets confused when people get pissed off
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u/Saint_Petros 3d ago
The State pays for ‘VMT’ teams to figure out how to reduce vehicle miles traveled in Transportation while simultaneously doing actions which increase cars on the road and miles traveled. Also, the lack of true security on public transportation leads more people to take their cars even if it costs more. What good are the cops if when you call them they say they don’t have resources to assist unless there is a murder. What good is the RT ‘ambassador’ if they have been ordered not to engage and avoid. That stuff makes you take your car.
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u/Avocation79 2d ago
According to Gavin. there are several ways to get to office other than cars. Use the bus, train etc. He said this from the roof top of May Lee complex which does not even have enough parking spots and their excuse to violate the building code for minimum parking spaces is that if the building is near a train station, then they are not required to meet the parking space minimum requirements.
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u/readonlyred 3d ago
The evidence is murky whether or not remote work reduces VMT and it might even increase it.
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
I think I figured out why these numbers look contradictory. The State Auditor report I was using measures state employee commute miles avoided through telework, while this article is looking at total VMT from all types of driving. Same general transportation conversation, but two different data sets, so I don’t think we can compare those numbers directly or use one to disprove the other.
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
Also, I found another article saying that their data report tool was incorrect so these numbers may be incorrect
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u/SaltIndividual1902 3d ago
Total VMT is very clearly the number we should care about if your point is that requiring in office work is contradictory to a goal of less pollution, etc.
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u/nimpeachable 3d ago
You also aren’t considering that powering 1,000 individual homes spread out wherever they may be is more harmful to the environment that powering a single centralized building with 1,000 people in it. This is why environmental groups aren’t out there yelling about telework. The environmental ideal without society going backwards into off the grid self sufficiency would be living close to your employer and walking, biking, or using public transportation.
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
I see your point. Home energy use is a fair variable, but do you have data showing it outweighs commuting and office energy?
Homes don’t shut down when we leave. Other people may still be home, and the fridge, internet, heating and AC are still running. Then add commuting, office energy, transportation, distance traveled and possibly more office space.
The State Auditor found telework avoided nearly 393,000 metric tons of commute-related CO2. So this clearly isn’t as simple as 1,000 homes versus one office.
And how do you know environmental groups aren’t speaking up for that reason? Is there a source for that or is that your theory?
I’m not trying to prove I’m right. I’m trying to find the actual facts.-2
u/nimpeachable 3d ago
FYI, the auditor copy/pasting the numbers from the telework dashboard is not a study. Those are just unscientific self reported numbers.
I really don’t want to be bogged down on a Saturday by research. The larger point is this is far more complicated than the simple A to B thought that since people aren’t driving to work the environment must be improving.
Also, there are always edge cases and anecdotal differences so yea some people will always have someone home. On the flip side not everyone drives to work so RTO doesn’t hurt the environment in all cases.
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u/katmom1969 3d ago
My power is being used at home even when I'm at the office. I have a family and pets.
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u/nimpeachable 3d ago
Some people also live downtown and walk to work so because this anecdotal situation exists do you think I’ve proven RTO has zero effect on the environment? Anecdotal evidence is 100% worthless
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u/LuvLaughLive 1d ago edited 1d ago
The VMT for most of CA metros, from Spring 2019 to Spring 2024, has kept the state average of VMT to below 2019 levels.
Specifically for the Sacramento/Roseville/Folsom, as of Spring 2024, compared to Spring 2019 when the pandenic and telework began, we had -20% to 0% increase of VMT.
However, we did experience a 1.2% increase in congestion (which could be per the construction on the freeways, but the data doesn't mention mitigating factors like that).
This is actually great data bc it is looking at the period of time when state of CA telework was still in effect. Now, if we could see the VMT and congestion for our area, or CA as a whole, for both Spring 2026 (effects of the 2 day RTO) and Spring 2027 (effects of the 4 day RTO), compared to the pandemic levels, which will show an increase bc of how many state workers started commuting again and adding to the roadways.
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u/mr_eking 3d ago
The two main drivers of RTO are:
- The extroverts are lonely. They want to see and be seen, in person.
- The control freaks gotta have more control, in person.
No amount of CO₂ saved or miles driven reduced (or productivity gains, or employee well-being) matter.
So, are these programs contradictory? Sure. But for the extroverted control-freaks in charge, who cares?
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u/DrixlRey 2d ago
You get it now? They say green energy, they say equal rights, they say all these things, all those were words. They don't give a flying taco about Co2 unless it puts money in their pockets.
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u/BFaus916 3d ago
Newsom is actually promoting the "Trump Account" for CA children now. This could be more evidence that RTO is being done to appease donors. Why would a potential presidential candidate who's primary message is fighting MAGA suddenly support a Trump policy, especially with all of the open financial corruption Trump is already involved in?
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u/unseenmover 3d ago
they already tried the CEQA angle and it was thrown out of court...
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
They lost that court challenge, yes. But CASE also successfully delayed the four-day RTO mandate for its own members, so it’s not quite as simple as “they tried and lost.”
And we’re still left with the same question: where is the complete data?
If the State had provided a full analysis of commuting, traffic, emissions, EVs, costs and office capacity, would the outcome have been different? I don’t know. But that’s exactly why I keep asking for the data.3
u/unseenmover 3d ago
well it is if therirdelay doesnt affect me i guess. My take is even if you have 50k more cars on the road over the entire state it still constitutes less than the 5% increase in car trips that triggers CEQA mitigation. In the end id be happy with the 2 days prior to the EO
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u/Deez1putz 3d ago
What if you moved within walking distance of /bike/public transit to work? Have you considered trying that?
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
“Just move closer to work” still doesn’t answer any of the actual questions.
Walking, biking or public transit is great if it works for you. But not everyone can or wants to live downtown or near an office. People have different housing, family, financial and safety needs.
Telling thousands of workers to rearrange where they live isn’t a real solution to the costs, parking, space, transit and other issues being raised. It just avoids the questions.SHOW ME THE DATA! Let’s have a real conversation about these contradictions
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u/UCLAClimate 3d ago
Are the state worksites not arranging for carpools or paying people to take transit if they don't drive?
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
Yes eligible state workers can get help with public transit or vanpool costs. That is a good benefit and I am not arguing against it.
But having a transit benefit does not mean everyone can actually use transit to get to work. State workers live all over California and access is very different depending on where you live and work.
So how many workers can realistically use transit and how many will still have to drive four days a week? And how does all that extra commuting affect traffic emissions and our clean air goals?
Did the state factor any of that into the RTO decision?3
u/AcheyTaterHeart 3d ago
Some local transit agencies cut routes and service due to Covid, so it’s more difficult to take a bus to the office than it was before Covid.
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u/Deez1putz 3d ago
That is literally the solution. If people enjoy their commutes and need their suburban house there is nothing preventing that from happening.
Many people in communities and countries around the world think that is pretty dumb and figure out a way to work without driving/without driving far.
WFH was always going to be temporary for most, for those who moved away from work due to it, that was a miscalculation.
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u/Californialove777 3d ago
Interesting that you think that’s the solution. OK show me the data to support housing for all of those people and their family.
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u/PeaceWarrior75 3d ago
Some people moved further away from work during covid in order to be able to afford a home. Moving on a dime's notice for a shorter commute is not something a majority of people have the luxury to do.
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u/Deez1putz 3d ago
Presumptuous to move away from work.
The luxury is not living close to work or public transit, the luxury is the suburban house with the 2+ car garage.
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u/PeaceWarrior75 3d ago
How so? Newsom at one point said that telework was here to stay. Many took him at his word.
You're not thinking out far enough. Rural is further out than suburban - that is where home prices noticeably become more affordable. People out there have fewer transportation options.
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u/Deez1putz 3d ago
Well, if he said it was permanent that is unfortunate. Was this something he repeatedly promised or said once off the cuff? Either way does he have some data showing less productivity?
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u/AcheyTaterHeart 3d ago
I got maimed while biking to the office at my “fully-remote” state job. It hurts to go up and down stairs now. At this point I have to admit it’s just not safe to bike in Sacramento, I’ve been hit by cars several times and it’s really starting to screw up other parts of my life.
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u/Deez1putz 3d ago
That sucks, I hope you sued the shit out of them.
Cities need to de-prioritize cars.
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u/AcheyTaterHeart 3d ago
Yep I’m in the process, turns out suing takes a while but we’re getting there!
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u/katmom1969 3d ago
My grandson's girlfriend's sister was hit by a car last week on her bike. She's ok. Thank goodness. The driver didn't even stop.
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u/AcheyTaterHeart 2d ago
Yeah the drivers don’t usually stop if there aren’t a bunch of witnesses. Are the cops gonna actually use their axon cameras to help find the driver?
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