Commute Time From Suwanee to Downtown ATL (Atlanta: house, neighborhoods)

[sacto5]

Hi all. How long does it take to commute from Suwanee to downtown Atlanta during rush hour? I'm trying to determine if it is equivalent to commuter traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area? My family and I are considering making the move, but we don't fully understand what the phrase "horrible traffic" means, as we believe our area has "horrible traffic." To give you an idea, it takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour to get from our home to downtown San Francisco. It's not ideal, but it is manageable. Is that the type of commute I would be looking at?

Thanks.

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by sacto5

Hi all. How long does it take to commute from Suwanee to downtown Atlanta during rush hour? I'm trying to determine if it is equivalent to commuter traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area? My family and I are considering making the move, but we don't fully understand what the phrase "horrible traffic" means, as we believe our area has "horrible traffic." To give you an idea, it takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour to get from our home to downtown San Francisco. It's not ideal, but it is manageable. Is that the type of commute I would be looking at?

Thanks.

That would be a good day commute. On days of rain or Friday afternoons, you may be looking at 1.5 hours, easily. And that depends on what part of Suwanee you live in. Driving to the interstate is jam packed as well as driving on the interstate.

Would you be open to other neighborhoods in metro Atlanta? Any particular reason you zoned in on Suwanee?

[shankwheat]

is the best way to describe traffic in this area. Unless you enjoy 5-10 hrs a week of your life in a vehicle, I would look for something closer to downtown and public transportation.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by sacto5

Hi all. How long does it take to commute from Suwanee to downtown Atlanta during rush hour? I'm trying to determine if it is equivalent to commuter traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area? My family and I are considering making the move, but we don't fully understand what the phrase "horrible traffic" means, as we believe our area has "horrible traffic." To give you an idea, it takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour to get from our home to downtown San Francisco. It's not ideal, but it is manageable. Is that the type of commute I would be looking at?

Thanks.

On a good day 1.5 hours. Rain or a wreck will make it 2 to 2.5 hours each way. BTW there really is no "rush hour" here. The traffic is horrible virtually all day from about 6AM to 9PM. It is just worse at 5PM when the city goes into "operation gridlock". A lot of your commute time will not even be in I-85 but on the surface streets just getting to and from I-85.

[FromGA]

If work is downtown, and you need to live in the northern suburbs, try living closer to the north springs marta station. Close to GA 400. Drive to the station, and take the train.

I suppose you could live in Suwanee, it is a nice place, but why when better options may be available?

[cwkimbro]

The commuter bus from Discover Mills Mall to Downtown takes 50 minutes. It might take 10-20 minutes to drive to the bus location based on where your house is and I would plan for another 10 minutes to get to your final location downtown from the drop off...

so with that option you are looking at 1hr 10 minutes minimum, but if traffic is worse than normal it can get slowed more than that.

What I will tell you is most of the traffic you will face will be on I-85 north of I-285. the travel on I-85 from I-285 to the connector (where I-75 and I-85 merge) isn't too bad. Once the two freeways (75 and 85) merge it will get bad quick for that final leg.

As much as I like the idea of commuter buses... At this point a car can still make about the same time. We are currently installing a toll lane on I-85 north of I-285. One of the purposes for this is to increase speeds for commuter buses and make travel times more reliable for them.

Another method you might want to watch/stalk online for a few weeks is the Georgia DOT's navigator website.
It will show you graphically where the backups are, but it also have a trip time estimator based on current detected speeds for the freeways, so you can make these judgments for yourself. It doesn't quite estimate times as far out of Suwannee, but almost. Then add 10-20 minutes for travel time from house to freeway and 10 minutes from the freeway to your work parking site, etc...

Georgia Navigator :: Home :: Home (Click Atlanta and on the left hand bar it has an estimator for current travel times and historical averages. The peak travel time to check everyday would probably around 8am)