Need Commute & Travel info for Silicon Valley (San Jose, Fremont: to live, commuter)

[atoves33]

Our family is coming to Fremont, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Sunnyvale for Christmas. We used to live there 7 years ago but a lot has changed traffic and commute wise. We need travel tips and secrets from you pro's about commuter time, traffic jams, avoid-this-commute info etc. 880, 680, 237, Hwy 101, Hwy 85, Hwy 17, anything you can share to help us navigate the freeways and highways during our daily travels around various towns.

We have 3 young children and the idea of spending 4 hours in grid-lock while we're trying to get to a family meeting or playdate just creeps me out! Thanks for the help! Phil, Arianne, Samuel, Abigail, & Joel

[sonarrat]

It should NEVER take four hours to get between any of those points, no matter how badly you mess up. 880/237/101 is fine for getting between Fremont and Sunnyvale, you might get slowed down in Fremont but otherwise it should be smooth sailing. Use Mission to cut over from 880 to 680 if you have to.

Also, 880 turns into 17. If you're on the east side and you need to get to Santa Cruz, you just need to find your way to 880 South, and conversely if you're in Santa Cruz going to Fremont or San Jose, take 17 North and keep going. It'll slow down going through the 101 and 280 interchanges, but the alternatives aren't really worth going so far out of the way. Just stay as far to the left as you can.

[moovin]

Nothing has changed after 7 years imho. In 2000, at the height of the dot com traffic sucked. Soon after the economy degraded but has recovered since. Traffic has followed suit.