Commuting Time, Berkeley to San Jose

[esun]

I know we have a lot of Bay Area people in here, so hopefully someone can help. I'm working at Cisco (intern) this summer and have an apartment in Berkeley (I attend UC Berkeley). I am debating between commuting from Berkeley or living in San Jose. Either way, I'll be paying for my Berkeley apartment, so commuting would be cheaper despite high gas costs.

What I'm interested in is about how long it would take at around 8AM to get from Berkeley to San Jose driving. Mapquest / Google Maps / other estimates give me about 45-50 minutes, but I have a feeling with realistic morning traffic that may not be the case. I think I'd be okay driving up to an hour or so, but if it will take significantly longer than that, I would probably strongly consider renting down there.

Also, if anyone has experience using public transit over that distance (e.g. take BART to Fremont, take a bus line to San Jose), I'd also like to know how long that takes.

 

[z0mb13]

try carpooling.. the 880 will be a major PITA

its probably at least 1:30.

 

[JohnAn2112]

I would guess probably an hour and 15 minutes at most depending on how bad 880 is. Of course, 880 is unpredictable and conditions are different every morning.

 

[777php]

I commute from Lake Merritt to Sunnyvale and it takes me an hour if I leave my house at 9am. Since Cisco is closer to the 880 on the 237, it should take you about the same since Berkeley is a bit further up from Lake Merrit.

I suggest taking 580 and cutting across the 238 to 880. You'll either hit traffic at Auto Mall or Fremont Blvd...but there isn't really a way to avoid that unless you exit and take Milpitas Blvd down to the Mission 880 entrance.

EDIT: Also, don't even think about public transportation. It would take you twice as long to get to work.

I tried taking the Amtrak from Oakland to Santa Clara and that takes forever, plus you are at the mercy of the train schedule.

 

[esun]

Hmmm, sounds like living there will probably be the better option, then. Thanks for the help, guys.

 

[thomsbrain]

this is a 45 minute drive at 80 MPH. you will be lucky to go 30 MPH past Fremont. Based on the commute times I've experienced in the PM, I would not hesitate to say 1.5 hours or even 2 hours.

note that 777php's example is leaving at 9 AM, by which point most people have already arrived and been working for an hour! the real crunch is around 7:30 AM.