Best commute to Alexandria from Centreville (Reston, Manassas: how much, home, school)

[jillabean]

I just got a new job and will be moving closer to it as soon as I can, but for now I am in Centreville and will need to commute. I am trying to think of the best way to commute to and from Alexandria and wondered if anyone had any suggestions.

My initial though was VRE in Manassas Park to King Street (my new job is right there at the Metro station). But then I read how unreliable VRE is. I have a daughter in school that I need to pick up in the early evening and I can't be late picking her up (I can make morning arrangements). This commute will take me less than an hour and if the VRE is on time, this isn't a problem. If it's late a lot, it won't work out.

I thought about taking 66 to Vienna Metro and taking the Metro the rest of the way. This commute will be over an hour and a half though.

I am considering 7100 and driving all the way instead. But I have no idea what it's like during rush hour and how much time I will need.

I can't seem to find if there are any van pools, "express-type" bus routes or the like.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[stax]

The 7100 option is probably the best one, as the hardest part will be at the beginning (getting to 7100 from Centreville) and the end (in Alexandria) of your commute. Most of the traffic on 7100 is headed to Reston/Herndon (North), so you should be good. I have a co-worker that works the mid-shift out here in Ashburn, and takes that way to head back to his home in Kingstowne.
I would budget about 45 minutes, but I would do a dry run first just to get a good estimate.

[jillabean]

Thanks! I have two weeks between jobs to do some dry runs. 45 minutes isn't that bad. My current commute to Falls Church is over an hour.

[stpickrell]

29 to 7100 shouldn't be too bad. But King Street is awfully far away from 7100 isn't it? You'd have to go up a fair bit of 395 which will be a PITA. OTOH, would 29 to 7100 to Huntington metro be a doable commute?

[stax]

I wouldn't take 395 from there, I would take 7100 and then 7900 to Springfield (there's a Metro stop there too if you don't feel like driving any further), and then jump onto 495 from there to get to Old Town.