[JDurham]

I live in Fairfield and commute on Metro North to NYC everyday. Now I am looking into jobs in Stamford and am so sick of the train and want to drive to work. How bad really is the traffic on 95 going South in the morning and North in the evening (basically a 9-5 job). Is it different everyday? Is the Merritt any better?
Thanks for your help!
PS- I am a CT native (middletwon area) so I am ok with some traffic in my life but people make 95 commutes out to be the worst thing to ever happen to them

[JayCT]

Both the Merritt and I-95 are pretty bad. It could take an hour or more. I wouldn't do it. Why don't you try driving down to Stamford one day and catch the train from there into the city. That will give you an idea of what the drive is like. Also keep in mind that the train commute from Fairfield to Stamford is not that long. Next time you are on the train, time it and I think you will realize it is not that bad. good luck, Jay

[HelloSam]

If you wait until later than 7 am to leave your home in Fairfield, you'll be hating it.

[toddb]

Originally Posted by HelloSam

If you wait until later than 7 am to leave your home in Fairfield, you'll be hating it.

More like 6:30-6:45, but yeah - it would be miserable every day. Commute home packs up at 3 or 3:30 and lasts until at least 6:30 or 7.

The train wouldn't be a bad option at all -- Fairfield to Stamford is about 30 minutes. You could do the drive that fast with no traffic, but it could be anywhere from 1h to 1h30+ in the peak of commuting time. Traffic is miserable on both 95 and the Merritt. I commuted to central NJ from Fairfield for about 4 months last year, and if I left Fairfield any time after 6:15 it would add a huge amount of time to my commute. Coming home I wouldn't even bother trying if it was before 7pm.

I take the train to NYC every day, but thankfully my office is only 2 blocks from Grand Central. I can see how people start to hate the commute after a while, but it's still pretty new so I'm doing ok.

In either case - good luck w/ your sanity!

[JDurham]

Thanks for all the input-- the place I am considering working does have somewhat flexible hours, so that may help. My main reason for disliking the train (even though I know it's a quick 25-30 min to Stamford) is I walk a mile each way to the train (in snow, rain ,etc) because I cant get a parking spot at the train station. Nice days the walk is refreshing but in January not so much!