How much time to drive from SF to Santa Clara to arrive at work at 10AM or 11AM ? (San Jose: home, construction)

[Pafacil]

Hi all,

I'm french and I'm moving from Paris to SFbay area next august.
I've already lived 3 months last year in San Jose.

I'll work in Santa Clara.
I'll have "special" shifts : 10AM-7PM or 11AM-8PM.

As I'm used to enjoy the nightlife in Paris, I would prefer to live in San Francisco (close to the 101) than San Jose.

Could you give me an idea of how much time I would need to reach work in the morning (as I expect not to be in the rush hours but I may be wrong) ?

As my work allow me to work from home from time to time, I think I could afford to spent time on the road twice a week... but won't be able to afford more than 2 hours one way !!!

Many thanks,

Bertrand

[rcshah]

The commute is not bad at all at the hours you mention. I do the same commute and either use Caltrain or drive. If you leave San Francisco after 9 am, it takes 1:00 to 1:10 hours to get to Santa Clara, and after 9:30, it shortens to less than an hour. In the evening, returning after 6:30 is pretty good and after 7 the roads are completely clear. Of course, there might be the occasional bad day, but if you check the roads before or during the drive, then there is also the longer option of I-280 which adds about 10 minutes but is always predictable in time.

[Pafacil]

Yes ! Very good ! You make my day beeing very good !
I've been used to drive till 1h30 hours to go to work near Paris some years ago.
So, 1h to 1h30 one way, two or three times a week will be ok for me.

I was afraid to learn that I've been too optimistic !

Many thanks

Bertrand

[sonarrat]

I agree about the morning trip but I'm going to disagree on the return trip. It helps that the carpool lane opens up for all traffic after 7 pm, but it's still not uncommon for the trip from Santa Clara back to San Francisco to take 2 hours if you leave at 7:00. The lighter traffic pattern that we have right now is not normal, it is due to the worldwide recession and it will revert back to what it was before. The traffic is worst on 101 between 280 and the bridge, so if you can avoid that stretch, you'll be in better shape. 101 from San Carlos to Burlingame is another tough stretch which is harder to avoid. 280 is a nice alternate but it's hard to access from Santa Clara; if you have to take the Lawrence Expressway, that can nullify the benefit of taking 280.

[Pafacil]

Well, you make my day a little worse
But my main concern is about the morning (well, I have to arrive on time ! ) so I still think that it should be ok.

I think that I'm going to try to search for a flat in SF. We'll see...

Many thanks for your reply

[ALX8725]

if you take 280 the travel time will be less than 1 hour easily

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

I agree about the morning trip but I'm going to disagree on the return trip. It helps that the carpool lane opens up for all traffic after 7 pm, but it's still not uncommon for the trip from Santa Clara back to San Francisco to take 2 hours if you leave at 7:00. The lighter traffic pattern that we have right now is not normal, it is due to the worldwide recession and it will revert back to what it was before. The traffic is worst on 101 between 280 and the bridge, so if you can avoid that stretch, you'll be in better shape. 101 from San Carlos to Burlingame is another tough stretch which is harder to avoid. 280 is a nice alternate but it's hard to access from Santa Clara; if you have to take the Lawrence Expressway, that can nullify the benefit of taking 280.

I used to live in Rivermark area of Santa Clara and often made the drive up to SF to see my then-girlfriend (now wife). Leaving my place around 7pm during the week, I would occasionally encounter some traffic but it didn't take me more than an hour and a half unless there was some sort of traffic blockage (accident or construction). If I left around 8pm, there was almost never any problems getting to the City in an hour.

[tjtv]

Where exactly in Santa Clara do you need to go? Possibly you could take the Caltrain as well.

[Pafacil]

Well, I'll work close to Montague Expy (crossing Lafayette St.). I don't think that Caltrain is an option unfortunately.

Thanks anyway to all of you

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

I agree about the morning trip but I'm going to disagree on the return trip. It helps that the carpool lane opens up for all traffic after 7 pm, but it's still not uncommon for the trip from Santa Clara back to San Francisco to take 2 hours if you leave at 7:00. The lighter traffic pattern that we have right now is not normal, it is due to the worldwide recession and it will revert back to what it was before. The traffic is worst on 101 between 280 and the bridge, so if you can avoid that stretch, you'll be in better shape. 101 from San Carlos to Burlingame is another tough stretch which is harder to avoid. 280 is a nice alternate but it's hard to access from Santa Clara; if you have to take the Lawrence Expressway, that can nullify the benefit of taking 280.

RE: the C. Chavez / 80 - 101 split / bridge bottleneck:

Jump from 101 to 280, then either 6th or King.

Or, get onto 280S and head up San Jose Ave.