405 freeway Traffic from elsugundo to UCLA (San Diego, Anaheim: construction, earthquakes, to live)

[andyourlittledogtoo]

No subway, but there may well be a flier bus that goes nonstop on the freeway. But I think the van pool would be a better way to go if you can manage it.

[JTGJR]

LAGuy, what kind of flexibility do you have in your schedule? If you leave El Segundo around 6:30am, you'll probably have a half-hour drive so you could partake in one of the many coffee shops/cafes. The evening is an issue, however. If you're not out of there by 3:30, you're probably looking at an hour drive time. Do you have flexible hours, or is this a 9-5 job?

[LAGuy]

well, for the evening what time can i leave and experience 55+mph speed? I heard that if you leave at 5pm-you are dead. So how long after 5pm should i wait?


Yes, i do have some flexibility and can extend my work till 6:30...maybe even 7pm. I guess i can use that time to socialize with my coworkers and boss- that is always good thing to do.

Yea, the apartment around UCLA are expensive like 1 room for 1,000 dollars!

[orthopodfrancis]

Originally Posted by LAGuy

well, i have a friend that actually goes by that route from el sugundo to ucla and it took him 1 hour. He figure he was going 15mph with stop and go traffic. That brutal. I heard LA Cienga has a "mini" freeway but that gets congested as well. Once you on it, you are pretty much stuck...

I was wondering if there is any public transportation? Like Subway(no bus please--they take forever to get anywhere) that goes to UCLA?

SUBWAY??? in L.A. -actually there is a very limited one around Hollywood and "downtown", but none around UCLA.

15 miles - if you ride a bike, you'll beat the cars home, but will punish your lungs with beautiful clean L.A. air.

[SandyCo]

If you choose to commute from El Segundo to UCLA, God help you. I'm not being facetious. This is one of the worst commutes you could possibly choose to do. The 405 is almost always a parking lot, except for Sundays (when you presumably wouldn't be working). The one rule of thumb for coping with L.A. traffic - live as close as possible to where you work! One accident, one stalled car, and your commute is suddenly twice as long as normal. West L.A. needs a subway in the worst way, but it seems that everyone there is a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).

[andyourlittledogtoo]

If you commute before 7am to and after 6:30pm home then the commute is better. In spite of the alarming posts the 405 is not the end of the world in terms of commuting and it is a straight shot from UCLA to El Segundo so at least you won't have to change freeways or go out of your way to get to one or anything.

[JTGJR]

And, if there is a problem on the 405, there are a number of reasonable surface street alternatives. Yes, they'll be clogged to, but you'll still get there.

[motoman]

Some people try and play down the commute times on the 405. If you can at all avoid it, then avoid it. Looking at Google maps, it says El Segundo to UCLA can take up to an hour and 10 minutes in traffic. Believe it.

When I first moved to LA I lived in an extended stay hotel in Gardena, right off the 405. I worked in Westwood, right by UCLA. A normal day was about an hour and 15 minutes each way. That's an average of 15 mph over a distance of 19 miles. I was maybe 4-5 miles further than you would be. Sometimes going home in the evening it could take 15-20 minutes just to get on the 405, which was maybe a mile from my office.

Some days traffic will be lighter than others, but it is usually pretty consistent. The only way to avoid it is to leave early in the morning and late at night. Usually 6:30 am or earlier, or 7 pm or later. But it just depends.

People say you get used to it, but I don't know how you get used to driving 15-20 mph down a freeway and spending 2+ hours a day traveling a total of no more than 30-40 miles.

I had a meeting down in Irvine one day. The office is right off the 405 and I live right off the 405 in West LA. The office is almost exactly 40 miles from my apartment. I left the office at 4 pm. I got home at 6 pm. 20 mph for two hours. And the closer I got to West LA, which is just a few miles from Westwood, the slower it got.

People don't talk about the traffic to scare people away (well, maybe some do), they talk about it because they are trying to beat into people's heads that yes, it really is that bad. And, unless you're coming from another large city, you will most likely be surprised and amazingly irritated until you convince yourself that it's worth it to spend 1/8+ of your waking hours sitting in a car.

I wouldn't tell you not to come to LA because of the traffic. But I would tell you to be prepared for it.

[LAGuy]

Since there is a lot of RICH people around UCLA, how do the rich get around L.A. traffic? Do they suffer the commute the same way regular people do? Is there a special toll freeway?

So no subway eh? Seriously,the politicans should all be fired...oh well.

[LAGuy]

Sandy Co, what other commute can i take that isn't brutal? I'm scared. Surely it can't take 1 hr and 10 mins. That not even economically feasible in today high gas prices. What ever happen to a second freeway built on top of each other?


Damn.... i hate to imagine L.A traffic in 10-20 years. instead of 1 hr, now it takes 2-3 hrs for 15 miles.