live in pacifica- considering job in lafayette (San Francisco, Berkeley: home, trains)

[jribe]

Hi,
how awful of a commute would this be? It says it's 28 miles, which isn't bad- but would it be a 2 hour commute each way? Normal hours probably 7-4ish..

There's an option of taking the BART which is about 45 minutes.

thoughts? It'd be more money job-wise, just don't want to have an awful commute

[Chuck5000]

Awful no matter how you slice it, even though there is more traffic in the opposite direction. BART is 45 minutes including driving to BART, parking, walking to the train, waiting for train? Gotta be 60 minutes minimum. But surely that is way better than driving.

Here is a tool for determining commute times: On your computer (not your phone) Go to maps.google.com, click the blue directions arrow, then put in the addresses, then click on the clock symbol and play with the time options.

[jade408]

Take BART. Especially since it is the sort of the "off" direction, and the trains won't be horribly crowded. Most of the offices in Lafayette are within a short walk from BART. Driving will suck.

[jribe]

yeah i was figuring BART would be the best option.. anyone know how crowded the trains usually are? Now i take the richmond or bay point into the financial district and it usually not crowded at all (from colma)

[sav858]

It says Colma (assuming that is the station you would use) to Lafayette is a 55-min BART ride. Figure in time getting to and from BART that seems like a pretty long commute overall.

If you're working 7-4 it might actually be faster to drive. Looking at the traffic on Google Maps at commute times (like Chuck5000 suggested) it doesn't really show that much congestion overall for your reverse commute. Evenings coming through SF off the Bay Bridge will be the worst of it but looks like only from the Bay Bridge to just past the Central Fwy is jammed. Mornings doesn't look like you will hit very little traffic at all.

[bmw335xi]

Don't do it!!!!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by jribe

yeah i was figuring BART would be the best option.. anyone know how crowded the trains usually are? Now i take the richmond or bay point into the financial district and it usually not crowded at all (from colma)

You have a good schedule that should avoid the worst, whether you drive or take BART. Even better if you could leave before 7 a.m., and set out to return around 3:30 or 3:45 pm.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

You have a good schedule that should avoid the worst, whether you drive or take BART. Even better if you could leave before 7 a.m., and set out to return around 3:30 or 3:45 pm.

That used to be a fine way to avoid the heavy traffic but it hasn't been that way in at least 15 yrs. I was just stuck in hideous traffic today at 1:45 coming home from Berkeley back through the Caldecott. Leaving early doesn't cut it anymore if you're going to drive at all. We have to contend with drivers that now leave at 5-6 a.m. from farther places like Tracy/Brentwood/Vacaville that are trying to get into/around the City. I recently had to get to to SFO by 7 a.m. and left at 4:00 am. I was shocked at how many cars were on the road at even that hour!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by clongirl

That used to be a fine way to avoid the heavy traffic but it hasn't been that way in at least 15 yrs. I was just stuck in hideous traffic today at 1:45 coming home from Berkeley back through the Caldecott. Leaving early doesn't cut it anymore if you're going to drive at all. We have to contend with drivers that now leave at 5-6 a.m. from farther places like Tracy/Brentwood/Vacaville that are trying to get into/around the City. I recently had to get to to SFO by 7 a.m. and left at 4:00 am. I was shocked at how many cars were on the road at even that hour!

What nightmare! To what extent do you think your experience today may have reflected the Friday early-start-to-the-weekend? Hard to imagine a 1:45 crush through the tunnel being a regular thing. That's really insane, considering it's a bigger tunnel, now.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

What nightmare! To what extent do you think your experience today may have reflected the Friday early-start-to-the-weekend? Hard to imagine a 1:45 crush through the tunnel being a regular thing. That's really insane, considering it's a bigger tunnel, now.

Definitely might have been a Friday thing but in general, there's not really any time nowadays that's free of heavy traffic. I think
I-80 through Berkeley/Emeryville is the worse in the region.

When I want to avoid any traffic into San Francisco/Berkeley at all- particularly around "The Maze", I leave Monday-Thurs at like 10am or weekend mornings before 10. Those are the only times I can think of when it's mostly smooth sailing all the way to the bridge.