Afternoon commute Stanford -> Berkeley: any times better than others?

March 25, 2018 10:39 AM

I'm going to be commuting by car twice a week from Berkeley to Stanford and back. I have some timing flexibility on the way back: I can leave Stanford at 3pm when I finish work, or I can hang around for a while and leave later. How much difference would it make traffic-wise to leave at 3pm vs. 4pm vs. 5pm vs. 6pm? When is peak rush hour on that route and when do things ease up a bit?
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark to Travel & Transportation around San Francisco Bay Area, CA (11 answers total)

Google Maps lets you get estimates, including traffic, for any time of day (get the directions, and then change "leave now" to whatever). It looks like things don't actually start to get not terrible until like 7. At least, on a Tuesday. I expect things will be slightly different on a Friday, but mostly that everything starts getting slow a little earlier.
posted by aubilenon at 10:46 AM on March 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

I have a similar commute. The earliest you can leave or the latest is better. There will still be traffic leading up the Bay Bridge no matter what, but the trick is to not get stuck in it when it’s backing up the entire length of the city. Traffic on the way there is better in the later part of the morning though so it might be good to plan on a late day.
posted by bleep at 11:16 AM on March 25, 2018

Yeah, if you don't leave by 3 you might as well wait until 7. Parts of the Bay Bridge approach are basically bumper to bumper in both directions during daylight hours.
posted by rhizome at 11:31 AM on March 25, 2018

I think the bigger question is which Bridge is better; Dumbarton, San Mateo, or Bay Bridge. I don't do this drive regularly enough to have an idea. I imagine it depends a lot of time of day and the day's accidents.

"Rush Hour" in the Bay Area begins around 3pm and ends around 7pm. Not-coincidentally, that's also the exact time that carpool lanes begin and end. Not so relevant for the Bay Bridge but if you drive up the East Bay you might want to either avoid or take advantage of those times.
posted by Nelson at 11:36 AM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yeah the thing about which bridge to use is a good point, they all take about the same amount of time without traffic to where my company is (a few minutes south of Stanford) but I always check google maps before I leave to tell me which route is faster at that moment.
posted by bleep at 11:49 AM on March 25, 2018

Response by poster: Just as a data point, I've done this commute in the past (though not often at the relevant times, hence the question) and hardly ever take the Bay Bridge -- GPS usually takes me through Dumbarton, occasionally San Mateo. But again, that's generally been earlier than 3pm.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

That's because after 3PM you're going to be stuck in traffic somewhere, along your commute, at least twice.

When ... do things ease up a bit?

Nowadays, after 7:30PM. This really is the commute from hell. And magnify it by going through the City to take the Bay Bridge? Don't be ridiculous -- that'll only work after maybe 10PM.
posted by Rash at 12:50 PM on March 25, 2018 [3 favorites]

When I did this a few years ago, 3:30 pm was the absolute latest to leave Stanford before traffic would get really painful. After that it was far better to wait until after 7.

And we would take the 280 to the San Mateo Bridge--the freeway entrances were closer to campus and we'd avoid the possibility of getting trapped on University Ave for ages in a 101/Dunbarton tailback.
posted by col_pogo at 3:29 PM on March 25, 2018

Why isn't there an El Camino to BART bridge-crossing bus? And why don't buses have priority over cars?
posted by Baeria at 5:27 PM on March 25, 2018

There is a bus (Dumbarton Express) that goes from the VA Hospital in palo alto to the Union City BART (It does stop on or near El Camino I believe). It's pretty good but does sit in traffic.
posted by bleep at 5:33 PM on March 25, 2018

Why do freight trains have priority over Amtrak?
And why don't buses have priority over cars?

Because in the US, political leaders never ride the train, or the bus.
posted by Rash at 6:07 PM on March 25, 2018 [4 favorites]