Mass Transit in Orange County (Oceanside, Irvine: apartment, school, living in)

[metaljaybird]

Hi,

I just accepted a job in Irvine. I understand the commute is tough. I will be living in Vista for like 3 weeks while I search an apartment. I understand that a commuter rail runs from Oceanside to Irvine.

How good are these trains?

How about bus commuting once in Irvine?

Thanks for your help.

[recycled]

Oceanside to Irvine commuter train is MetroLink or Amtrak. Oceanside to Irvine trip takes about 50 minutes. Scenery is nice, many miles through San Clemente right along the beach. The Irvine train station is on Barranca Parkway, south of the "middle" of Irvine. Irvine does not have a real downtown and it is pretty spread out. There are Orange County Transit (OCTA) bus lines that run from the train station all around the area. Use Google maps to find your exact office location, and see how far it is from the train station. If its less than 3 or 4 miles from station to office, the bus can probably get you there OK.

[metaljaybird]

Thanks. The station is 1.7 miles according to google maps. I'm starting to accept the fact that a long commute will become a way of life. Though I live near NY, I don't commute there as much, so I've grown used to 20 minute commutes.

[boltthrower]

if you don't take metro link/amtrak
Public Transportation in OC SUCKS

[recycled]

Originally Posted by boltthrower

if you don't take metro link/amtrak
Public Transportation in OC SUCKS

Oh sure, OC doesn't have a great mass transit system like NYC. Why, because the people are spread out in suburban developments and so are most of the jobs. Plus, taxpayers won't vote in favor of light rail projects for lots of political reasons. So, we have this OCTA bus system, which slow as it seems, runs pretty much all over the county. I have used it many times, and it is usually pretty close to schedule and very cheap to ride. Tens of thousands of people use it everyday to get to work or school. The busses are clean, use natural gas instead of diesel to cut down pollution and I've never been hassled by anyone on the bus. Yeah, it's not perfect but it's better than most urban or suburban bus systems. It won't take long to go a few miles from the Irvine train station to within one of the local business parks.
Might even consider plan B, which is to leave an old bicycle locked up at Irvine train station and pedal from there to your office. Some people do that, really. Everything is pretty flat around there so no high end bike needed.

[metaljaybird]

Originally Posted by recycled

Oh sure, OC doesn't have a great mass transit system like NYC. Why, because the people are spread out in suburban developments and so are most of the jobs. Plus, taxpayers won't vote in favor of light rail projects for lots of political reasons. So, we have this OCTA bus system, which slow as it seems, runs pretty much all over the county. I have used it many times, and it is usually pretty close to schedule and very cheap to ride. Tens of thousands of people use it everyday to get to work or school. The busses are clean, use natural gas instead of diesel to cut down pollution and I've never been hassled by anyone on the bus. Yeah, it's not perfect but it's better than most urban or suburban bus systems. It won't take long to go a few miles from the Irvine train station to within one of the local business parks.
Might even consider plan B, which is to leave an old bicycle locked up at Irvine train station and pedal from there to your office. Some people do that, really. Everything is pretty flat around there so no high end bike needed.

Hi recycled...I actually thought about locking a bike at the station. Most train stations near me have bike lockers, but I guess a simple lock will suffice.