Commuting from Chantilly, Centreville or Oak Hill to DC (Herndon: live, buses)

[mlv311]

What is the estimated commuting time from Chantilly, Centreville or Oak Hill to downtown DC? What are the public transportation options available from these areas? If you had to rank these in terms of best to worse for commuting into the city, what would the order be?

I've used the search engine to look for commutes and most are from these to areas outside DC so I'm trying to gage options. Thanks in advance.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by mlv311

What is the estimated commuting time from Chantilly, Centreville or Oak Hill to downtown DC?

A pretty long time. If you try to drive it, that's 25-40 miles of really hard road in rush hour.

Originally Posted by mlv311

What are the public transportation options available from these areas?

The probably typical commute from those areas involves making your way to the Vienna Metro station and then riding the Orange Line downtown. The train part will run you about half an hour, depending on where in DC you go, and whether you have to change trains or hop a bus. Some days you might want to pack a lunch for the drive-to-Vienna part. It can be brutal, but from where I live, I don't have to do it, so I'll defer that sorry story to someone with more first-hand experience at it than me. There may also be bus options for getting to the train that would beat being behind the wheel...

[dullnboring]

Yeah, the worst and most unpredictable part of that commute will be simply getting to Vienna Metro. You can drive or take the bus. That could run anywhere from 20 minutes on a really really good day, to more likely around 40 minutes on your average day. It will vary wildly depending on the day and road situation on I-66. My mother did this commute for several years, from Centreville to Federal Triangle. It was fine at first but really wore on her after around six months. By the two year mark, she had enough and left the area for Pennsylvania .

If I had to rank the three locations, I would say that Chantilly is the best, though not by much, followed by Centreville, and then Oak Hill. I think we're talking about maybe 10 minutes of difference however between them. If traffic is moving quickly on I-66, Centreville would actually be the quickest as I-66 is right there, but that doesn't happen often.

[jmjohnson]

On the weekend, less than 1/2 hour. During the work week, it could be over an hour. There are many sub-station in the area where you can park and catch bus to subway station.

Oak Hill (Herndon) some parts of Oak Hill is still referred to Herndon. It would be best to park and ride. These are sub-stations where buses come in to pick-up people (every 10-15 minutes) to carry to nearest subway station. Most people find this very convenient to travel into DC considering there are carpool rules in effect on I-66 during rush hour.

Most companies in DC provide monetary contributions to employees who use public transportation. You will have to venture on I-66 directly from Chantilly and oFrom Chantilly and Centreville. The drive from Centreville will be a nighmare because it is further out and have limited 'park and rides'. There are a number of park and ride stations near Oak Hill.

I'm not aware of any in Chantilly...

[city2000]

You cannot travel inside the beltway on I-66 during rush hour with only one person. It is all HOV-2 inside the beltway. Commuting from Centreville is actually easier, in my opinion, because you can take routes which lie south of
I-66. If you are in Chantilly or Oak Hill, you are pretty much stuck with the Dulles Toll Road and I-66. Any way you cut it, getting from Centreville, which is only 25 miles (at I-66) from DC will take you at least one hour each way, and rush hour runs past 11am most days.

Originally Posted by mlv311

What is the estimated commuting time from Chantilly, Centreville or Oak Hill to downtown DC? What are the public transportation options available from these areas? If you had to rank these in terms of best to worse for commuting into the city, what would the order be?

I've used the search engine to look for commutes and most are from these to areas outside DC so I'm trying to gage options. Thanks in advance.

[seldomseen]

This commute is definately doable, and many, many people do it everyday. But it will get old very, very, very fast!! Especially if you intend on driving directly into the District, and if you don't do the "park and ride" thing.