Travel time: San Fran airport to San Jose?

[mazeroth]

I'm flying into SFO at 2:30 PM on Monday and will be driving to San Jose (Milpitas, to be exact). Any idea how long this will take? I'm thinking of hanging out in San Fran until 8-9PM and then driving to Milpitas (have training there Tues-Thurs). I've heard San Fran traffic can be horrible so I was just looking to get some info so I can plan accordingly.

Thanks.

 

[qaa541]

If you get on the 101 and drive down to the 237 freeway it should not take more than an hour at 8-9PM on a Monday night. Getting to the freeway (depending on what side of the city you are on) may add 15 - 20 mins if you are on the far side of the freeway.

Taking the Bay Bridge at that hour may be okay, but the peninsula route (hwy 101) is generally faster and hwy 237 east will take you right to Milpitas. You can never predict the bridge traffic, all it takes is one stalled car and it can add 20+ minutes to get across.

 

[zoiks]

Yep. 101 South to 237 East is the way to go. You could also take 101 South to Hwy 92 East (San Mateo Bridge) to 880 South. But I'd take the first option.

 

[zinfamous]

at 9pm on Tuesday it will take ~20 minutes max.

I can drive from Redwood City to Berzerkely (this involves the 2 worst traffic spots in the region--the Bay Bridge and "The Maze" on the east bay side of the bridge) in ~45 minutes at that time of day. Your driving distance is much less than half that time.

It probably wouldn't be "too" bad at 3pm, either.

Actually, I made that drive precisely at 3pm the other day in just under an hour.

 

[zinfamous]

wait, how far away is Milpitas? I guess I'm way underestimating the distance to San Jose.

 

[BudAshes]

The city of sf is a horrible place to drive in general. Getting to san jose is easy, although I would take 280 over the 101 during rush hour.

 

[zinfamous]

The city of sf is a horrible place to drive in general. Getting to san jose is easy, although I would take 280 over the 101 during rush hour.

he would have to drive in the opposite direction, though, to get on 280 leaving the airport, and 280 isn't very straight of a drive.

If he's driving at 8-9pm, 101 is completely fine (barring construction--of which there is a lot these days) and/or a wreck.

oh wait, damn, he's hanging out in SF. 280 does make sense, then. It's still a bit out of the way.

 

[Printer Bandit]

101 S
237 E

will take 1 hr from downtown SF to Milpitas.

 

[alkemyst]

Should be about 5 mins via Trebuchet.

 

[skim milk]

40 minutes

 

[dawheat]

Agree - 40 minutes no traffic (after 7ish should be ok going south unless there's an accident, will be clear after 8pm).

1hr 15min+ during rush hour.

 

[Kadarin]

If you get on the 101 and drive down to the 237 freeway

Clearly you weren't born here, as we (natives) never call it "the 101" or "the 237". That's a SoCal thing.

 

[Drako]

40 minutes

Agree - 40 minutes no traffic (after 7ish should be ok going south unless there's an accident, will be clear after 8pm).

1hr 15min+ during rush hour.

What they said.

40 minutes if traffic is good, and hour or longer if not .

 

[Sheep]

at 9pm on Tuesday it will take ~20 minutes max.

San Francisco (either city or airport) to Milpitas can't be done in 20 minutes at any time of day unless you're driving very illegally over the speed limit.

 

[qaa541]

Clearly you weren't born here, as we (natives) never call it "the 101" or "the 237". That's a SoCal thing.

Yep, I am a SoCal transplant... it will be my 4th year here in the Bay Area this October. It is strange to my ears to refer to a freeway without "the".

I can tell Bay Area people natives by the lack of the use of "the" when referring to freeways (but that seems to be fading), the use of "hella/hecka" (which no SoCal native ever says) and asking what the concrete thing that divides a freeway is called (SoCal: Center Divider, Bay Area: Center Divide).

What confused me for a long time when I first got here is the traffic news and old road signs refers to the local name for the freeways like "The James Lick freeway is congested" or the "Bayshore Freeway, next right" (both referring to the 101). More confusingly, sometimes the signs will just say the next major city ("San Jose, next right" or "San Francisco, next left") without giving any hint that the sign is referring to a freeway or which specific freeway the sign is for. Newer signs now just have the Interstate/US Route symbol and freeway route number which makes things much easier.

It took me awhile to map the names to the numbers (which is how I keep track of things in my mind). That is also not to mention that the names are only for sections of the freeways and are only used and posted on a small sign where the section name starts.

 

[zinfamous]

San Francisco (either city or airport) to Milpitas can't be done in 20 minutes at any time of day unless you're driving very illegally over the speed limit.

ya, I was thinking from the airport, and even then, don't really go all the way to San Jose. I drive from Redwood City to East Bay all the time, though.

I was wrong about every assumption I made in this thread.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Depends what time, but probably around a half hour I would say.

 

[zinfamous]

Yep, I am a SoCal transplant... it will be my 4th year here in the Bay Area this October. It is strange to my ears to refer to a freeway without "the".

I can tell Bay Area people natives by the lack of the use of "the" when referring to freeways (but that seems to be fading), the use of "hella/hecka" (which no SoCal native ever says) and asking what the concrete thing that divides a freeway is called (SoCal: Center Divider, Bay Area: Center Divide).

What confused me for a long time when I first got here is the traffic news and old road signs refers to the local name for the freeways like "The James Lick freeway is congested" or the "Bayshore Freeway, next right" (both referring to the 101). More confusingly, sometimes the signs will just say the next major city ("San Jose, next right" or "San Francisco, next left") without giving any hint that the sign is referring to a freeway or which specific freeway the sign is for. Newer signs now just have the Interstate/US Route symbol and freeway route number which makes things much easier.

It took me awhile to map the names to the numbers (which is how I keep track of things in my mind). That is also not to mention that the names are only for sections of the freeways and are only used and posted on a small sign where the section name starts.

I don't know why anyone refers to any freeway as a "the." It sounds ridiculous to me. ....but I also think hella/hecka or whatever is just as bad--though I've never heard it in my 3 years here.

as a non-native living in CA, I think Nor/SoCal is equally retarded with their expressions.

:thumbsup:

 

[AlienCraft]

There is no way I would spend 6.5 + hours "hanging out" in an airport if a flight home doesn't depend on it. If you're on BART, you could do a complete lap of the bay and be back @ the airport in that amount of time. practically anyway.
No one suggested the Dumbarton bridge, which is just a few miles North of Milpitas and avoids some of the heavy SiliValleyTraffic,imo.
HWY 101 S to Bayfront Expressway E to Hwy 84 E / Dumbarton Bridge (free direction) to 880 S to Milpitas. An hour, hour 15mins tops.

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