SF - South Bay Commute: Times of Day to Leave (Daly City: live in, car)

[speedy_g]

Bummer re: that Google maps simulator. It only shows data for the actual freeways and has nothing about SF city streets

[debbie421]

Great thread, same question for me since I'd reverse commute to Mountain View. What neighborhoods do you suggest that give you easy access to 280?

[speedy_g]

Hi Debbie, there have been some helpful responses, but I'm still looking for more concrete experience from someone who does this regularly from Marina/north SF (or maybe no one is that insane).

Anyway, from what I've read and learned thus far, taking 280 mostly is a breeze. Living somewhere like Glen Park or Bernal Heights would be your best bet, followed by Potrero Hill and SOMA. It seems like East Mission/Noe Valley is the best place to live that really gets you into fun parts of SF, but still close enough to 280.

[sonarrat]

Bernal Heights would be perfect, get on and off 101 at Cesar Chavez and you'll hardly ever get delayed.

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by speedy_g

Hi Debbie, there have been some helpful responses, but I'm still looking for more concrete experience from someone who does this regularly from Marina/north SF (or maybe no one is that insane).

I live in Lower Pac Heights, which isn't as far north as the Marina, and commute down to work in Palo Alto (the Page Mill exit off 280). It usually takes me around 45 minutes in the morning if I leave by 7am. At that time of the morning, I can usually take Webster down to Oak and get on to the highway via Octavia. It takes me around 7-10 minutes to get from my place to the freeway at that time of the morning. I'd guess that you'd need to tack on around 7-10 minutes from the Marina.

I don't know what the commute time is like from Page Mill down to Saratoga, however. You might find some bottlenecks around Magdelena on 280 (since you lose the left lane for HOV) and on 85 south of 280.

[speedy_g]

^ Thanks so much for sharing your experience! What do you do in the evenings? (What's the best time you've found to leave PA / go through the city)?

I'll have to ask some others I know about Magdalena, but I personally know that 85 south of 280 is smooth sailing.

We might have found a pretty good deal on a place near Bay and Van Ness that we'd be hard-pressed to pass up (aside from the added commute time)... and I'm thinking I'll leave before 7 AM and try to head home by 3 PM.

[hsw]

From PacHts/Marina would do Broadway to Embarcadero to 280S; in AM, 280S all the way to SV is fine (can alternatively do 280S-101S-380W-280S if any unusual issues on 280 in SF)

At ~8AM (even in rain), abt 35mins from PacHts to SandHillRd exit (~75MPH cruise throughout on 280 w/some faster bursts)
At <7AM, can shave several more minutes off time as crowd on 280 tends to drive notably faster, more purposefully/safely, and not block left lane for even faster traffic

In PM, 280N tends to flow fast out of SV at nearly any hr, perhaps as far fewer SV workers live in PaloAlto area and SF along 280 corridor

But def would do 280N-380E-101N-280N and use Embarc-Bway to get back to PacHts area (280 N of 380 faces congestion closer into SF w/BayBridge backups and SF city streets nr 101 entry to city tend to be more congested and accident prone)

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by mdwstrnkid

I live in Lower Pac Heights, which isn't as far north as the Marina, and commute down to work in Palo Alto (the Page Mill exit off 280). It usually takes me around 45 minutes in the morning if I leave by 7am. At that time of the morning, I can usually take Webster down to Oak and get on to the highway via Octavia. It takes me around 7-10 minutes to get from my place to the freeway at that time of the morning. I'd guess that you'd need to tack on around 7-10 minutes from the Marina.

I don't know what the commute time is like from Page Mill down to Saratoga, however. You might find some bottlenecks around Magdelena on 280 (since you lose the left lane for HOV) and on 85 south of 280.

There's no bottleneck backup in the direction the OP would be traveling. It's true that 280 gets backed up in the Los Altos Hills between Page Mill and Magdalena going in the other direction in the evening hours.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by speedy_g

This forum is excellent, but I haven't been able to find out enough information about times of day to leave for commuting from SF to Saratoga (on 280) in the morning and then back up to SF in the afternoon/evening. I've read through so many threads, but maybe I've missed something.

Either way, I'll be moving to SF and commuting south. Let's say I live in the north part of the city (Marina, for argument's sake). Should I leave SF by 7 AM to skip traffic? What about waiting until 9 AM? When is getting through the city down to the freeway the worst?

Leaving the south bay, do I need to either get out by 2:30 PM or wait until after 6:30 PM to leave? When is traffic the worst in/around SF in the afternoon/evenings?

Outside of SF, I'm assuming 280 should move pretty nicely w/o much traffic most times of the day, so at least I don't have 101 to deal with. Based on the information everyone shares, I can figure out my work schedule/hours (it's flexible to a certain extent).

Alternatively, if I lived in SoMa or the Mission/Noe Valley, would I eliminate the majority of commute issues?

Any help is appreciated, and I thank you in advance for your time!

I lived in the Marina and commuted to San Jose via the 280. Although it's better than the 101, it's still pretty much like a rusty knitting needle shoved in your pee hole. Leaving earlier is better, but if you leave at 7...expect to be there around 8:30ish. 3 hours round trip will about do it.

First slowdown will be getting onto the freeway, especially if you get on the 101 where they brilliantly have like six lanes merging into one in the span of 100 feet. We have excellent engineering schools here...why does our infrastructure look like it was mashed together by remedial school children? But I digress.

Then when you get over to 280, you'll be going slow through the Serramonte area until you get past the exit for the 380. It will make you want to bang your head in frustration and ram cars off the road.

But after all that, it's not bad. Unless, of course, someone runs their car off into the ditch, after which all the cars in all three lanes will feel the need to practically stop their cars in the road to gawk at it in awe.

[speedy_g]

Originally Posted by hsw

From PacHts/Marina would do Broadway to Embarcadero to 280S; in AM, 280S all the way to SV is fine (can alternatively do 280S-101S-380W-280S if any unusual issues on 280 in SF)

At ~8AM (even in rain), abt 35mins from PacHts to SandHillRd exit (~75MPH cruise throughout on 280 w/some faster bursts)
At <7AM, can shave several more minutes off time as crowd on 280 tends to drive notably faster, more purposefully/safely, and not block left lane for even faster traffic

In PM, 280N tends to flow fast out of SV at nearly any hr, perhaps as far fewer SV workers live in PaloAlto area and SF along 280 corridor

But def would do 280N-380E-101N-280N and use Embarc-Bway to get back to PacHts area (280 N of 380 faces congestion closer into SF w/BayBridge backups and SF city streets nr 101 entry to city tend to be more congested and accident prone)

Fantastic info, thanks! I never even thought of Bway/Embarc...

Originally Posted by ambient

I lived in the Marina and commuted to San Jose via the 280. Although it's better than the 101, it's still pretty much like a rusty knitting needle shoved in your pee hole. Leaving earlier is better, but if you leave at 7...expect to be there around 8:30ish. 3 hours round trip will about do it.

First slowdown will be getting onto the freeway, especially if you get on the 101 where they brilliantly have like six lanes merging into one in the span of 100 feet. We have excellent engineering schools here...why does our infrastructure look like it was mashed together by remedial school children? But I digress.

Then when you get over to 280, you'll be going slow through the Serramonte area until you get past the exit for the 380. It will make you want to bang your head in frustration and ram cars off the road.

But after all that, it's not bad. Unless, of course, someone runs their car off into the ditch, after which all the cars in all three lanes will feel the need to practically stop their cars in the road to gawk at it in awe.

Haha thanks for sharing. I think I might end up feeling this same way eventually...