Commute from Carlsbad to San Juan Capistrano? (San Diego, Irvine: commuting to, metro area)

[wisker]

Wondering how bad the commute would be between these 2 cities in the morning (7am) and returning around 3:30pm?? Mapquest says about 30 minutes, but that doesn't take into account the traffic.

[sav858]

I don't think traffic would be too much of an issue, but I am not 100% on that since I don't do that commute. Most traffic in Carlsbad is heading south in the morning. Most traffic in SJC is heading north from there in the morning. So your commute shouldn't be bad since you're not going in the commute direction and are commuting from the edge of one Metro area to the edge of another rather within a single metro. I doubt it would take more than 45 minutes, 30-35 min seems reasonable. One thing you could do is go to Traffic.com in the morning and evening during the commute times and enter in your starting and ending points and it will approximate how long it takes based off of current conditions, that will give you a good idea what to expect.

[wisker]

Thanksfor the great idea! Didn't know about that website. I'll try it tomorrow morning.

[5FLgirls]

I do the commute from Del Mar to Aliso Viejo around 2:30PM every other day (with a return around 7PM) and it takes me 50 minutes each way going between 70-80 mph. Traffic gets a bit congested around San Clemente no matter what part of the day it is. If there's an accident..that's another story. It took me 90 minutes last week to make my ride with 30 minutes stuck in traffic in San Clemente. It's an easy drive, especially from Carlsbad.

[SomeThings]

I think you'll be ok, but there will be "days" of bad traffic (more likely in the afternoon). The earlier you leave the better. My BF does the commute from (north) Carlsbad to Irvine (north of SJC). He can drive it in about 45/50 minutes--mornings aren't too bad, but afternoons can take longer. Most of the time he takes the metrolink (from oceanside to irvine)--doorstep to doorstep is an hour and 15 minutes. I know metrolink has a stop in SJC and might be worth looking into.

Most of that drive is very pretty--uninterruped coastline for about 17 miles....

[Daf898]

I drive once a week rom South Carlsbad (La Costa) to Aliso Viejo (north of San Juan) I usually give myself 40 minutes to be safe. Very easy drive against Traffic 30 minutes would be your commute most days. I would prefer this commute to commuting to into San Diego.