Commute from Shirley to Boston? (Cambridge, Fitchburg: home, live, cost of)

[kdisney]

Does anyone have any insight as to how long this takes during rush hour? My husband will be travelling between 7 and 8:30am and home between 5-6pm. Thanks!

[goyguy]

The MBTA commuter rail has service through Shirley on its Fitchburg line. The train runs out of North Station in Boston by way of Porter Square in Cambridge. Here's the link for timetables and more info: MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System

By car, the commute could easily run as long as an hour or more. Route 2 is a fairly fast road, but it narrows at the Cambridge boundary and is perpetually congested from there on into town. A lot of people, whether they ride the subway or not, leave their vehicles at the Alewife terminal of the Red Line which is situated right next to the rotary where the expressway ends. But the entire garage is often filled as early as 7 in the morning.

IMHO using the commuter rail is by far the best bet, as parking expenses alone would exceed the cost of a round-trip ticket let alone a monthly pass. But the drawback to that is the fact that many of the Fitchburg line trains only go as far as South Acton, several towns east of Shirley. If your spouse is often kept late at work, or is on an unpredictable day-to-day schedule, he could face a wait of an hour or more before the next train all the way out.

[brightdoglover]

Your husband might spend a lot of time at the Concord rotary, sitting on Route 2 waiting to go on, in either direction, at those times.
Then it gets worse on into Boston. I would never drive to Boston (and I live down the road from Shirley. I second the idea that he drive to some commuter rail stop and go on in from there. South Acton's lot does fill up fast (and it's quite big). Littleton's stop is very small and is full easily. I don't know about Ayer and other stops.
Getting to Alewife can be quite the traffic, too, all along Rt.2.
But no one should ever drive into Boston on Rt.2 at usual business hours. It's just not worth it, no matter what the alternatives are.
I don't know much about the rest of commuter rail, but it's well worth looking into. Also depends on what part of Boston he wants. The commuter rail links up to the Red Line in Cambridge and he could go onto most useful areas of Boston in a straight shot. (Alewife is the last stop on the red line, and would be fine- but the traffic to get there...)
Best wishes. I like Shirley. A down-to-earth feel.

[mmsuki]

I agree with Goyguy: take the train and forget the commuting hassles.