How is the daily commute to SF from San Jose in the morning? (San Francisco: live in, traffic)

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by RockhetHD

How is the daily commute to SF from San Jose in the morning?
How is driving vs taking the Cal-Train Bullet Train?

It really depends on which part of San Jose you are leaving from, and where in SF you need to go. If the original poster would tell us those two things, the answers will be much more accurate.

If you are living in Coyote Valley (extreme south San Jose) and going to the Sunset (near the Pacific ocean, far from downtown) then the train would be a very poor choice, for example.

I'd recommend looking at google maps ("GM") during rush hour. If you ask for directions via GM (from your address in San Jose to the address in SF), it not only gives you "est drive time" it also shows you another drive time "in current traffic". So you could check at 7:00, 7:30, 8:00 AM several different days and you'd get a very good idea of how long it will take during rush hour.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by ambient

If you take the 280, it's like being repeatedly punched in the kidney.

If you take the 101, it's more like a rusty needle shoved up your pee hole.

Having spent 90 minutes driving a 24 min drive this AM, I can say that is awesome.

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

Having spent 90 minutes driving a 24 min drive this AM, I can say that is awesome.

If you're smart, you avoid these situations.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

If you're smart, you avoid these situations.

Yes, smart enough to not make this my daily commute thus not knowing the in's and out's of it when I, on rare occasions, need to get somewhere early in the AM I fall prey to the terrible drive!

[marcopolo666]

I just say NO when people ask me to drive thru horrible traffic at commute time, including my employer.

[drothschild]

I am going to be in San Francisco and will need to travel from there to Santa Cruz at about 9.30am on a Monday. What is my best option and how long will it take from downtown SF to Scotts Valley? Is 280 or 101 better ( I will have a colleague so can use Carpool lanes)?

[marcopolo666]

Concerning the previous post about travelling from SF to Santa Cruz. My post from 10/25/12 is still applicable (if you replace "San Jose" with "SF" and "SF" with Santa Cruz"):

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

It really depends on which part of San Jose you are leaving from, and where in SF you need to go.

{ ... }

I'd recommend looking at google maps ("GM") during rush hour. If you ask for directions via GM (from your address in San Jose to the address in SF), it not only gives you "est drive time" it also shows you another drive time "in current traffic". So you could check at 7:00, 7:30, 8:00 AM several different days and you'd get a very good idea of how long it will take during rush hour.

Note that for much of he drive, you will be in a "reverse commute" (going the opposite way from most people). From your question, it wasn't clear if you need to arrive in SC at 9:30, or if you will be leaving SF at 9:30. If the former, the drive will pretty much suck (although having a 2nd person in the car will make it a lot better). If the latter, it should be a breeze.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by drothschild

I am going to be in San Francisco and will need to travel from there to Santa Cruz at about 9.30am on a Monday. What is my best option and how long will it take from downtown SF to Scotts Valley? Is 280 or 101 better ( I will have a colleague so can use Carpool lanes)?

Take 101, 85, and 17. Carpool lane on 101 starts in Belmont and continues down to the flyover ramp to 85 in Mountain View. After that it's smooth sailing.

[never-more]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Simple answer: Live near where you work. Nowhere is that more appropriate than the Bay Area.

Unless we're talking about L.A.

Now, if only the livable places near our work weren't so expensive........

[crescent22]

Why would you take 101 over 280 from SF to SJ?