Sac to SF Commute Question (San Jose, San Francisco: rent, home, living)

[krb740]

Does anyone know from experiece what the commute is like from Sac to SF in the morning and SF back to Sac in the evening during the week? I do not want to do this however I may end up doing the commute to take care of some clients that are to good to let go of. I assume it is 2+ hours of mind numbing fun ;(

[CityGirl72]

yup - at least 2 hours - and probably more

I wouldn't do it

[humboldtrat]

CityGirl is right. It's at least two hours and usually longer. The traffic from the I-80/I-680 split near Fairfield to San Francisco is the bad part. That section is usually bad everyday. And the section from Vallejo to SF is really bad. Sorry I couldn't give you better news.

[MamaToThree]

I used to commute from Sac to SF twice a month since our branch office was right next to 3Com park and it was miserable. Some days we sailed on through, but most days we were stuck in horrible traffic. I also wouldn't do it. If you have the option of taking the train, that might be better, however I think Amtrak stops in Emeryville and you have to take the Amtrak bus into SF. So, timewise it's probably no better.

[Mamag]

You're looking at 2 hours in the morning - and as much as 3 or more hours to get home in the evenings. Horrible and getting worse by the day!

[sergeyn]

Originally Posted by krb740

Does anyone know from experiece what the commute is like from Sac to SF in the morning and SF back to Sac in the evening during the week? I do not want to do this however I may end up doing the commute to take care of some clients that are to good to let go of. I assume it is 2+ hours of mind numbing fun ;(

3 hours one way would be a fair estimate, during the rush hour. Outside of the rush hour-- between 1.5 and 2 hours one way.

An alternative might be to take AMTRAK to Emeryville (trains run often) and catch and AMTRAK bus from Emeryville to SF. Maybe not faster but probably more relaxing.

That said, I'd never consider a commute between SF and Sacramento myself.

[rah62]

I am most likely going to be moving to Sac in September or October, and a potential job at UCSF Medical Center popped up. They offer two vanpools which pick up from a spot in West Sac at either 4:30 or 5:00am for a 6:30 or 7:00am start-work time - so, at that early hour of the morning they seem to be guaranteeing a 2-hour commute time.

Since I'm not there yet, maybe someone can tell me if there are HOV lanes between Sac and SF which would allow a vanpool such as this to get through in a guaranteed two-hour span?

I did note that they're not guaranteeing how long it'd take people to get home!

(PS: I'm not going to avail myself of the job - I just can't see myself spending 4+ hours on the road every workday, even if someone else is doing the driving!)

[nomdad4life]

krb740- I did that commute for three months and it is a bear (when I did not know any better). Now that I am living on the East Coast, I can reflect and say that it is not that bad. Here is how to do it-

1. You have got to live near Downtown Sac. No if, ands or buts. If you drag your happy feet out to Folsom or Roseville to be cool (and I grew up when neither place was) do so at your own risk. Consider yourself warned.

2. Take the Amtrak to RICHMOND and catch the BART into the city. This is the only place where both overlap and the trains run on time during the morning. If you want to try the swap in the evening, do so at your own risk. The trains seem to take after their European (Franco/Italian) brethren and fail to run on time.

3. If you have a laptop, you will be good to go. Book first class so you can work.

After about of year of the commute, you will more than likely move to SF, but I found the BART connection to be the key. You can also drive to Richmond as well and park there. I found this to be a good strategy to hedge against "train delays"

Good luck.

[krb740]

Thanks for all of the input. I do not want to do this commute by any means. If I have to do it I will most likely take the Train, then to bart, then the free shuttle to the clients office. I will most likely do remote work for them anyhow.

[choctawmicmac]

That's crazy. It is over 100 miles! But since you apparently seem to know that, I agree with the Amtrak to Richmond BART station thing. It costs a fortune, though. It makes up for the difference in rent of living way out in Sacramento. Hope the job in SF pays enough to make up for that huge train fare every month!

At least you're fortunate that Amtrak and BART can actually get you into the City at all on some kind of commuter schedule. You could be really screwed and live in Stockton or Modesto and have to drive the whole way into San Jose every day...or into the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station and take BART from there into the City every day.