commute from Burbank to downtown LA (Glendale, Santa Monica: home, YMCA, live)

[butsy]

Hi,

I am from the UK an am moving to Burbank, LA. How long will the commute take either by train or by car. to down town LA.

Also what would be he approximate cost of car parking in Downtown LA per day / month for a 'normal' working hours job.

Many thanks

[wvdevindavis]

Parking downtown depends on where you're working. Big bonus if you're office has parking. A lot do. As for public parking, most advertised rates are 5-7 dollars a day and 150-180 per month. As for the commute, I can't say. I live downtown. I'd suggest looking into the Metro buses, and the subway isn't too bad, from my experience. I wouldn't think it would be longer than 45 minutes, but then again, it's LA.

[zenkonami]

I know there's a Burbank shuttle that runs from somewhere in Burbank to the North Hollywood Metro station, though I've never used it so I don't know much about it. From the NoHo Metro station it's about 20-25 minutes to downtown by subway. It's quite busy during rush hour, but rarely packed like the Tube or NY subway system. Trains run fairly frequently.

There's also a Park & Ride parking lot at the NoHo Metro station.

If you drive, it could take you 15 minutes, or it could take you an hour and 15 minutes to get downtown, with no rhyme or reason as to why. Getting to know surface streets can help alleviate that sometimes, but you still have to get across the Hollywood Hills, and that's kind bottlenecks the two main freeway routes on this side of the San Fernando valley.

[LArenter]

The parking rates vary significantly; You can park at a place like Pershing Square for their Early Bird at about $9 a day. But if you want to park in one of the office towers they can go as high as $35, e.g. YMCA building, US Bank Tower, etc -- the monthly on those place still run about $300 a month now.

[Burbankhotty]

The Commuter Express is a great way to get down town daily. I took it for jury duty, it was beautiful, lots of commuters on their way to work.

[ConsideringLA]

You have 4 options.

- Commute via car, which is a non-starter (for me at least).
- Take Metrolink to Union Station. Pricey but local.
- Take the Commuter Express bus, which will be subject to local traffic.
- Take the red line subway from NoHo, which is $1.25 each way and zooms to Union Station in about 22 minutes. As Zenkonami mentioned, Burbank Bus (http://www.burbankca.org/burbankbus/schedule.htm - broken link) can shuttle you to the NoHo station from the Media District route or the Empire route. Burbank Bus is free with a Metro pass. The only downside to Burbank Bus is that it doesn't run as frequently as the Red Line, so you have to add some minutes. Another option is to bike to NoHo. The Chandler Bikeway virtually runs right into NoHo (there is one left turn at Vineland, then a quick right). Let me caution you that there is virtually no available parking at NoHo in the main lot. There is a wait list for paid parking (I have been on it for about a year and have heard zilch), the regular lot is routinely full, and even tertiary parking spaces in nearby residential areas can be full. I have found it honestly faster to simply bike to NoHo than drive and hike.

Good luck.

[butsy]

Thanks everybody - great information.

[Tasksgirl]

Originally Posted by zenkonami

If you drive, it could take you 15 minutes, or it could take you an hour and 15 minutes to get downtown, with no rhyme or reason as to why. Getting to know surface streets can help alleviate that sometimes, but you still have to get across the Hollywood Hills, and that's kind bottlenecks the two main freeway routes on this side of the San Fernando valley.

Yeah exactly. I commute from Santa Monica to Glendale (just before Burbank) and the part from Downtown to Glendale/Burbank area can sometimes take 10 minutes and sometimes 45 minutes.. get familiar with www.sigalert.com check it EVERY DAY before you leave home and before you leave the office.. figure out what times USUALLY have the best traffic .. and have backup streets in mind..