Commute time from millbrae\burlinghame by car to north San Jose (San Mateo: renting, university)

[nyproffessional]

I have been reading that the commute time on google maps is not the same as actual time taken in the Bay Area.

We are thinking of renting in Millbrae\Burlingame so that it is an easy commute for me to the city. DH has to drive to North San Jose. Will this take him 1 hr each way or less? Google maps tells me 30mins.

Our next option is Hillsdale\Belmont area. DH wants to be in Mountain View but I think my commute will be killing to the city from there.

[sonarrat]

In the AM this isn't a bad drive, because the bottlenecks are before the bridge traffic merges onto 101.. but, you have two major stretches of slow stuff in the PM. One getting through Palo Alto, as traffic backs up behind the University or Willow exits to get to the Dumbarton Bridge, and one getting through Redwood City up to the San Mateo Bridge. You can avoid some of it by taking I-280, but getting to it on I-880 can be nasty business and it's not always a great alternative overall, especially if it puts you out of the way.

Mountain View has an express train to the city of SF that can get you there in 30 minutes, and the line is due to be extended to downtown at the First/Mission transit center within the next decade or so. It's also a much easier commute for the DH. If you have the option I would live in Mountain View.

[nyproffessional]

Looks like its back to Mountain View search then. I liked the burlinghame downtown alot though.

Thank you Sonarrat.