Livermore to Santa Clara commute? (San Jose, Stockton: home, transfer to, buy)

[gretchenhandel]

I have a job offer in Santa Clara, CA but I would like to live in Livermore. Is the commute from Livermore to Santa Clara along the 680 freeway southbound in the mornings really bad? What about the return commute in the evenings? Just want to get an idea, from anyone who does that commute daily, or knows what it's like. Looks like it's only a 3 lane freeway each direction.

Also, roughly how long do you think it would take to commute that distance, one way? Maps say it's only 33 miles but with traffic that could be a long time.

I'm assuming I'd take the 580 to the 680, but would taking the smaller 84 freeway make sense? It's only one lane each direction...

Thanks!

[sonarrat]

A lot of people do take 84 as an alternative to avoid some of the 580 traffic, but the bad traffic on 680 is usually between 84 and Mission (the Sunol Grade). South of there, you might run into some problems on 237 getting into and out of Santa Clara.

[gretchenhandel]

bump!

[marcopolo666]

I've lived very near Santa Clara for about 20 years now - that is going to be an absolutely horrible commute (*unless* you leave Livermore before 6 AM or after 9AM, and leave to go home before 3PM or after 7 PM). The "about 30 minutes" drive time would only be applicable at midnight or noon - Interstate 680 (I-680) is very, very busy anywhere close to commute hours. Commute times would probably be between 45 mins (on a very good day) to 75 minutes (a bad day). And if there was an accident, the comute will be 1.5-2.5 hours. I'm not kidding.

There are some things that might help the commute, though :

1) carpool (which requires a 2nd passenger, no age limit). If you find a co-worker who lives in the same general area (or even "on the way in"), you can use the carpool lane and avoid a lot of the backup/traffic (carpool lanes valid between 5-9AM and 3-7PM). The carpool lane (south on I-680) runs from about highway 84 all the way into the San Jose "outskirts" (calaveras Blvd/CA highway 237). Unfortunately, the carpool lane North isn't ready yet (and it won't be ready any time soon). Since there is no age requirement, you can use your kid to qualify (if you have one) - so enroll him/her in school near work

2) If you have a qualifying non-polluting automobile (all pure electrics and some CNG vehicles) then you can always use carpool lanes, even if you are alone.

3) the I-680 southbound carpool lane is also a toll road. You can simply pay a toll each time you use it when you are alone to speed up your trip (? $5 ?). You need to enroll in the "FastTrack" program to use this (that is the automatic toll pay card that also works on all the bridges around the bay). Again, there is no north-bound carpool lane up I-680 yet.

4) Take public transportation (the train) - Altamont Commuter Express (ACE Rail) - which runs from Stockton to San Jose (via Livermore). You could get off at "Great America" and transfer to a bus line or light rail ("tramway"). The train from Livermore station to Great America is about 45 mins. Many large companies provide free shuttles to/from train stations, or you could transfer to a VTA bus or tram, depending on where you work. Many companies also offer to subsidize public transportation fees for employees. You can bring a bike on the train, if that would be useful. Although the trip is 45 mins, you can spend it working instead of watching the road. Some cars on some trains have free wifi, so that you can read/write email, text/chat, etc during the commute.

train site : http://www.acerail.com/ridingace/trainschedules.aspx

bus/tram websites :
http://www.acerail.com/mapsstations/...castation.aspx
-and-
http://www.vta.org/schedules/schedul...umber.html#822

*** So that you can get an idea of the traffic, there is a real-time, color-coded traffic map at :

http://www.sigalert.com/Map.asp?lat=...-121.94752&z=1

Green is fast (over 55 mph) red is slow (under 20 mph?) and yellow is in-betwwen. It shows "alerts" (and accidents) as colored diamonds at the accident point. You can zoom in or out (upper left of the map) and if you move your cursor over the freeways (each "dot" is an exit) it shows you the exact (average) speed at that exit and the 2-3 exits befre/after it. Check the map on a commute morning at 8AM, or 5PM to see what I am talking about. I-680 N out of San Jose will be pretty much mostly red with some yellow for 10-20 miles.

[padvocate]

Thats the commute I do everyday and have for over a year. Buy a nice new comfortable car with good gas mileage because you will be in it an aweful lot, the commute is absolutely less than diserable. Like the above post I leave prior to 530am and try hard to be out of the office by 315pm.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by padvocate

Thats the commute I do everyday and have for over a year. Buy a nice new comfortable car with good gas mileage because you will be in it an aweful lot, the commute is absolutely less than diserable. Like the above post I leave prior to 530am and try hard to be out of the office by 315pm.

Having a nicer (and newer) car is one of those hidden costs of a long commute. Typically the bigger, nicer, car uses more gas than the one you'd buy if you lived closer to work. And it needs to be replaced and serviced more often because of all the miles you're putting on it.

Another hidden cost of long commutes relates to health. i think people who have long commutes tend to eat out more and exercise less, which leads to increased risk of weight gain and the attendant risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, & diabetes that go along with the weight gain (not to mention higher health care costs).

If you drive, there is also more risk you'll be in a crash. The more you drive, the higher your risk.