What is the commute from South OC to Downtown LA (Santa Ana: travel, work)

[cassaka2]

Hi Everyone,

My husband will be commuting from Laguna Niguel to Downtown LA for about 6 weeks.

We were wondering if anyone can give a rough estimate on commute time. He will need to arrive no later than 8:00am. We know that it will be a horrendous commute, and that it will vary due to accidents and such, but we are just trying to plan so that he can estimate when to leave in the morning. Also, would leaving earlier to avoid traffic (and arriving earlier) be worthwhile?

Thanks to anyone who has input on this.

[Josh22]

It's not a bad commute... unless traffic. Which around that time frame of 8 AM, that's rush hour time...

It completely depends on time of day and traffic. It can take 35 mins with no traffic, and it can take an hour and a half (or more if traffic is veryyy bad, which in LA it can be.) with traffic...

Can't really give you an estimate, as traffic could be flowing normal and it'd take you 35-45 mins. And another time, during that same time-frame, traffic could be traveling extremely slow and backed up... That's LA traffic

[speedywriter]

Originally Posted by cassaka2

Hi Everyone,

My husband will be commuting from Laguna Niguel to Downtown LA for about 6 weeks.

We were wondering if anyone can give a rough estimate on commute time. He will need to arrive no later than 8:00am. We know that it will be a horrendous commute, and that it will vary due to accidents and such, but we are just trying to plan so that he can estimate when to leave in the morning. Also, would leaving earlier to avoid traffic (and arriving earlier) be worthwhile?

Thanks to anyone who has input on this.

Horrendous *is* the word. That's 55 mi. minimum, as you're probably aware. I think he would need to leave by 5:30-6:00 to guarantee getting there by 8:00, in a worst-case scenario. It depends on how close he would be to the freeway both in Laguna Niguel and downtown. It would definitely be worthwhile, IMO, to leave earlier in the morning, even just half an hour, 5:00, in which case it might take him only an hour.

[Sage of Sagle]

I commuted to LA from South OC for nearly a decade. I agree with the prior post....leave before 5:30 to have a "buffer" to not be late. Going home is worse. I would leave sometimes at 5PM and get home at 8PM....not pretty...

On a positive note, if his work is ANYWHERE near a Metrolink station, he can jump on at SJC and catch a nap headed into Union Station in a non-stress commute...If he's within walking or taxicab distance of a station, he should BEG his boss to let him work around the train schedule.....just my $.02....I know it was huge for me when I rode Metrolink for a year...

[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

I commuted to LA from South OC for nearly a decade. I agree with the prior post....leave before 5:30 to have a "buffer" to not be late. Going home is worse. I would leave sometimes at 5PM and get home at 8PM....not pretty...

On a positive note, if his work is ANYWHERE near a Metrolink station, he can jump on at SJC and catch a nap headed into Union Station in a non-stress commute...If he's within walking or taxicab distance of a station, he should BEG his boss to let him work around the train schedule.....just my $.02....I know it was huge for me when I rode Metrolink for a year...

Metolink Trains are the only way to go. Aprox 40 min. from Santa Ana to LA union station.
Plus the people you meet on the train are great.

[PhillytoCali]

You should check out sigalert.com. You can put in the route you want and it will tell you real time how long it will take you to get there. You can also sign up for a free 2 wk trial and get it to alert you on your cell if there are problems along the route. I am moving to orange county and I can't decide where to live so I signed up for the 2 week trail and put in all differnt routes and now I can go online during when I would be traveling and see how long it would take. I used to be thinking we could move to Huntington beach but I have been checking that traffic route (Irvine to HB) and it always seems to be congested!

[Mel2882]

Originally Posted by Josh22

It's not a bad commute... unless traffic. Which around that time frame of 8 AM, that's rush hour time...

It completely depends on time of day and traffic. It can take 35 mins with no traffic, and it can take an hour and a half (or more if traffic is veryyy bad, which in LA it can be.) with traffic...

Can't really give you an estimate, as traffic could be flowing normal and it'd take you 35-45 mins. And another time, during that same time-frame, traffic could be traveling extremely slow and backed up... That's LA traffic

Let's get serious...if you can make it from Laguna Niguel to downtown in 35 minutes, you're driving too fast.

[cuttinhairkaren]

South county to LA in under an hour in the a.m.??? Are you taking a helicopter???
More realistically...1 to 1 1/2 hours...and the way home is a nightmare if you leave after 3 p.m. My husband did it for 3 years...and every once in a while, due to several accidents etc. it took him over 2 hours! And we live 20 minutes closer than you would be.
Metrolink...the answer.

[dusesean1986]

That should be a nightmare of a commute without a carpool.