Commute to Irvine (Anaheim, Glendale, Pasadena: living in, moving to, train)

[a2b2c]

Would appreciate any comments on the commute to Irvine while living up north (taking 71 -> 91 -> 241 -> 261) ? How brutal is it, during rush hours (7-9?) or slightly afterwards (9:30)? Does an electric vehicle/carpool lane usage help much ? How about the return commute in the afternoon/evening ?

And how about the commute to Irvine from the Yorba Linda /Anaheim areas (both: a. 55 South, and, b. possibly through the hills leading to Jamboree)?

Thanks !

[Socalpal]

Originally Posted by a2b2c

Would appreciate any comments on the commute to Irvine while living up north (taking 71 -> 91 -> 241 -> 261) ? How brutal is it, during rush hours (7-9?) or slightly afterwards (9:30)? Does an electric vehicle/carpool lane usage help much ? How about the return commute in the afternoon/evening ?

And how about the commute to Irvine from the Yorba Linda /Anaheim areas (both: a. 55 South, and, b. possibly through the hills leading to Jamboree)?

Thanks !

If living off the 71 you will want to take the 241 toll-road coming into Irvine and the 55/91 express lanes when commuting back. You will have to pay the surge toll rates on the 91 express lanes.

The 241 toll road evening commute won't help much, as once you hit the 91 freeway it will bottleneck.

You are much better off living in the Yorba Linda area and commuting in via 241. It is a much more tolerable commute.

[Joe Van Fossen]

The 71 South always seems to jam up a few miles before the 91, and the 91 westbound is also rough just before the 71 through the 55. It's a brutal drive. Brutal enough that I'm currently in escrow with a seller who's moving to Yorba Linda from Diamond Bar (57S-5S, similar drive time) because they recently moved jobs to Irvine.

Yorba Linda or Anaheim Hills would be a much more tolerable commute. You'd be better off taking Santiago Canyon/Jamboree than the freeways.

[a2b2c]

thanks a lot for your responses.

Any thoughts if having access to the carpool lanes (via an electric vehicle) helps much at all ? On any of the stretches (71, 91, 241, 261) ? I'm not 100% sure which of those have carpool lanes, and/or how crowded the carpool lanes themselves would be, even if one can use them.

[veritasveritas]

Why don't use live in Tustin, costa mesa or the surrounding cities near Irvine?

[a2b2c]

due to some other constraints I have, I have to consider living further north.

On that note, I heard that there are some apparently well organized carpool/rideshare programs from Chino etc, to Irvine. I cannot really find what would be a relevant online link for such programs. Can anyone point me to those sources of information ?

[timtemtym]

I recently had an interview in Anaheim just off the 57 south. I thought "Oh yeah the 57 looks red, but it's Orange County so how bad can it be?" I was coming from the Glendale/Pasadena area and mistakenly thought nothing compares to LA traffic.

I was flying all the way down to where the 57 and 60 split and then it was over an hour from there down to south Anaheim. It is truly horrible all the way down to the 91 then it was decent. To go between the 60 and 91, on a regular Wednesday it was awful.

All that to say any reliance on the 91 at all be it the 71, 57, 55, etc, is a major jam. It's one of those freeways that is a major workhorse of SoCal as it slices through so many regions and connectors.

I would much rather live in Yorba Linda or Anaheim Hills and have some side streets to access the 241. Whatever your family obligations are, they are more likely to be holiday and weekend things when the 91might be better. Using it for a daily commute ensures hours of sitting in your car per week.

Is your work in any way near the metro link station? If so, Corona might not be horrible with a month pass on the train and then a bike or scooter if the office is a mile from the station.