commute Lexington to Financial District (Boston, Cambridge: house, transfer to, to live in)

[zxed]

Hello all,

I relocated from California where we have horrible public transportation and I am trying to plan out my commute hours (I have some control over them) and I need your help and suggestions.

From what I've read...

If I leave home at 9:30 AM, I could drive into Alewife in 15-20 minutes
Get on the T, and make it to Park St, by 10:15?

On the way back home, I could get on the redline at DTX around 6PM? head back to alewife
Drive back to Lexington and be home by... 7PM?

I could leave at 5... but I guess I may be waiting longer at DTX to get on... or am I equally screwed after 4:30PM till 6:30PM?

I am in the north/top half of lexington... if that helps.

[kingeorge]

It depends from where you starting. You can take bus that goes into Alewife as well, in some areas of Lexington. Not every area in Lexington is within 20 minute reach to Alewife. You can spend even 30-40 minutes driving into Alewife from Lexington. Traffic is bad around here.

T is fast. Unless there is some kind of delay, from Alewife to Park St. you would need 20-25 minutes tops.
Morning commute is tough but nothing like an evening one. Just to get out of parking on Alewife you can be spending 30 minutes in stop and go traffic. I would not count on 1 hour door to door in the evening.

If you can, your best bet is to use bus and transfer to train or live near Alewife, and walk to train. Without any transfer or driving to park, your commute would be very easy.
Lexington is better for people working in Cambridge/Waltham area. Commute is doable but getting longer every year. It is not an ideal town to be commuting to Boston every day.

IMHO, you should be looking at Newton, Brookline, Needham or Wellesley for easier commute into Boston. Hingham or Cohasset can serve you well.

[Ninotchka P]

Originally Posted by zxed

H
If I leave home at 9:30 AM, I could drive into Alewife in 15-20 minutes

No. I-95 is usually still backed up at that hour. By 10 -10:30 it eases up. You could take back roads through Lexington to Rt. 2 without touching I-95, but I think you should plan for 20-30 min. (depending on where in Lexington you are). The bigger problem is parking at Alewife. I think the lot fills up early?

Drive back to Lexington and be home by... 7PM?

7:30 sounds about right. Probably sooner if you can avoid the interstate. Again, depends on where exactly you're at.

I could leave at 5... but I guess I may be waiting longer at DTX to get on... or am I equally screwed after 4:30PM till 6:30PM?

Basically.

.

[claiz]

I live in south part of Lexington and travel to Financial district for work. I usually take bus to Alewife then red line to South Station which is smooth most of the time, rain/snow storm notwithstanding. I commute off rush hours though (6-7am inbound 4-5 outbound pm) and find a house that has bus stop nearby for commute reason. Staying off rush hour (early in early out) really make a difference.

The reason why I take bus instead of driving to Alewife is that, as other mentioned, getting out of Alewife parking lot during evening rush hour (anything from 5:30pm to 7pm) is torturous (30mins+ to get out of parking lot).

[MikePRU]

Curious . . . you're coming from California and likely could have lived almost anywhere in MA because you don't likely have roots in any part of the state . . . why did you choose to live in Lexington when there are fairly similar towns here in MA that offer a better commute to the financial district?

[tribechamy]

Don't forget to factor in getting INTO parking at Alewife - it does fill up rather quickly and if you're getting there from Rt 2 it's a total clusterf...I mean traffic jam at that exit.

[AtkinsonDan]

One additional point that must be made here is that the red line train frequencies vary between pre-rush hour, rush hour and post-rush hour. Just something to keep in mind. If I recall correctly rush hour trains are roughly seven minutes apart and non-rush hour trains are about fifteen minutes apart.