Can DC physically handle the RTO?

[Anonymous]

My metro train already delayed this week. Can 270 495 66 all handle feds coming in 5 days a week, which honestly hasn’t happened since pre 2010?

I have my doubts. Will they add more metro trains?

Will DOGE take away transit benefits next?

[Anonymous]

Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

[Anonymous]

Jump in that slug line!! They were created for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

Most government workers weren’t in the office 5 days a week, 8:30-5. My agency was 4 days a week with situational telework. Because we are a law enforcement agency, we had a lot of situational telework so most people—like at law firms—were not physically in the office by 8:30 am.

As a reminder, this isn’t an RTO. This is a telework ban.

The morning commute is going to be absolutely brutal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

Our agency has teleworked 3 days a week for at least 10 years (when I joined). But I admire your confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

Until the last few years everyone DID NOT go to the office 5 days a week. So your second sentence is false. We are trying to go back to over 15 years ago when telework did not exist AND there were much fewer people living in the area and cars on the road/people on metro.

[Anonymous]

No, Metro can't handle it. They have been deteriorating since the 1990s and don't expect any improvement now.

[Anonymous]

I have worked in DC since 2001. I think the city and metro can handle it. What has changed since the early 2000s is where people live. Back then, I lived in Greenbelt because it was on the Green line and living near a metro was important since my commute was a big part of my life. Now, my junior colleagues live a similar distance away, but not near metro stops, so they will have to drive. Metro parking lots back then were packed and you couldn’t get a spot if you got there after 8:00. I bet they will be full again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

Yes, exactly. It has only been 10 years that there was significant telework. I remember 2014 and I didn’t know anyone outside of the Patent Office who teleworked. The population of DC is not that different than it was in 2014 and not everyone is returning 5 days. Anyone over 40 has significant experience working I the pre-telework era. Trust us olds. It will be fine.

Our agency has teleworked 3 days a week for at least 10 years (when I joined). But I admire your confidence.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty old and have a quite different take. The gentrification drove the federal workforce quite far out. People have always lived far out, yes, but not nearly in these numbers. Many feds had great deals in DC and Arlington, where housing is now affordable on federal salaries. I lived in Clarendon, for example, before anything was there. It was cheap. Times are really different and it will be a mess.

[Anonymous]

No. It’s never handled it. The commute was HELL. It doesn’t matter where you live, if you can’t walk to work, you are signing up for an hour long commute, minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty old and have a quite different take. The gentrification drove the federal workforce quite far out. People have always lived far out, yes, but not nearly in these numbers. Many feds had great deals in DC and Arlington, where housing is now affordable on federal salaries. I lived in Clarendon, for example, before anything was there. It was cheap. Times are really different and it will be a mess.

edit *not affordable*

[Anonymous]

Laughing because there is a garage at my metro station that’s hasn’t been open for 6 or 7 years that isn’t going to magically fix itself now that folks need the spaces. Good luck if you need to park there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. It’s never handled it. The commute was HELL. It doesn’t matter where you live, if you can’t walk to work, you are signing up for an hour long commute, minimum.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course DC can handle it. Until the last few years, everyone went to the office 5 days a week. And, many private companies are not going back to 5 days a week. I know my law firm is staying at a recommended 3 days in office, although most people are back ~4. It will still be well below pre-pandemic levels. DC, metro included, will adjust, just like it adjusted down in the early days of the pandemic. 5 days in an office was the reality for many of us for decades of our working life. It is not impossible for people or for governments to handle this.

I have worked since 1995 and have never worked in an office 5 days a week. My corporate employer allowed telework. I started in the federal government in 2010 and my agency had telework back then. The maximum days I have worked in the office is three days a week. The flexibility allowed for less traffic. I can't imagine what traffic will be like with the end of federal telework.