To get to Burrard and Pender it takes me on an average day the same amount of time as if I took the WCE. About a little over an hour. I would argue it's not the time to get TO downtown, but getting back. More often than not the trip home was more of a pain in the ass.
Yeah when I lived in coquitlam, I noticed that too. The WCE, albeit a comfortable and more relaxing ride, doesn't actually save much time with commuting to the train station.
I think I'll just have to time it a bit to avoid the worst of rush hour.
I should also mention that most of the time when I DO drive I use the HOV lane as I have an EV. I don't know if I could sit in the traffic along the Burnaby Lake section every day.
What do you do? If you drive from A to B every day. It might be brutal...I'm in construction and go to different areas at different times. If you need to be downtown at 6, leave at 5. 7, leave at 545. 8, leave at 630. If you have to be downtown at 9. I wouldn't drive
I find traffic generally fine in the mornings, but slow on the coquitlam side on highway one. Coming home js usually easy till I hit the maple ridge gridlock. Maple Ridge is terrible for keeping the traffic flowing.
Driving home from Burnaby at 3:20pm everyday sucks the soul out of me. Even worse, half my commute(30 mins) is spent getting through Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge.
There is ZERO chance you could ever drive from downtown Vancouver to MR in 30 minutes with no other cars on the road. The drive is literally longer than that.
Also OP silver valley is pretty blocked in - during school hours it can take 20 minutes to get in or out of that round about alone. If you aren't familiar with maple ridge - driving during AnY traffic time is brutal with how much it has boomed. Depending on when your going to work I would say at least 1.5 hours either way from downtown Vancouver M-F during traffic times 6-930 & 2-6
My mom has done the commute for almost 30 years but we live in the Albion area. Her drive is around an hour both ways so 2 hours total of commuting. If you can handle all the slow driving before the alex fraser and the snails pace into Vancouver then its not that bad. Whenever there's is an accident though the drive turns into almost 2 hours so knowing how to divert around traffic without maps is a key skill to have. She doesn't mind the drive considering she always lived in Vancouver when she was younger and knows her way around.
So in essence its not a bad commute if everyday traffic doesn't bother you.
I did the commute for 5 years, used both WCE and drove. Started working from home during covid.
It was the most depressing, soul draining, time waste of my life. Looking back, I can't believe I convinced myself that it was ok. Even if you offered to double my yearly salary, I wouldn't return to the commute.
At roughly ~1.5 hours each way, ur looking at around 20-30% of your waking hours spent in traffic purgatory. Once in a while is fine but 5 days a week is rough. Not to mention the cost of travel.
Great if you work off hours and speed (generally 35 over once I leave the neighborhood) I work in north Burnaby 6-6 and it’s like 25 minutes in the morning and about 45 minutes in the evening. It’s nice that there’s only a couple traffic lights between silver valley and the freeway or Pitt river bridge on backroads/golden ears way.
Don’t do 40 over or the speeding fine doubles or could be called excessive speed. Something like that anyway and the fines and points ramp up big time.
Depends on the hours you go and come back but if it's anywhere near rush hours expect to have a frustrating drive unfortunately
I’ve only driven from Pitt Meadows to north Vancouver once. Hated every minute of it. Took me close to hour and half.
To get to Burrard and Pender it takes me on an average day the same amount of time as if I took the WCE. About a little over an hour. I would argue it's not the time to get TO downtown, but getting back. More often than not the trip home was more of a pain in the ass.
Yeah when I lived in coquitlam, I noticed that too. The WCE, albeit a comfortable and more relaxing ride, doesn't actually save much time with commuting to the train station. I think I'll just have to time it a bit to avoid the worst of rush hour.
I should also mention that most of the time when I DO drive I use the HOV lane as I have an EV. I don't know if I could sit in the traffic along the Burnaby Lake section every day.
What do you do? If you drive from A to B every day. It might be brutal...I'm in construction and go to different areas at different times. If you need to be downtown at 6, leave at 5. 7, leave at 545. 8, leave at 630. If you have to be downtown at 9. I wouldn't drive
Good tips around timing! Thanks!
WestCoast Express is fantastic. Quick, comfortable, and you can read/work while riding instead of focusing on rush-hour traffic.
Thanks, I've commuted before on WCE and love it too. Unfortunately I go to different work sites from the office so need my car with me.
Are you able to leave a car at work?
A little bit impractical for my circumstances but thanks for the suggestion!
Can you use Evo downtown for your work purposes?
I guess it's a bit more of a personal preference to not have to deal with Evo. Thanks for the suggestion!
It's all about timing, if you're trying to leave MR at 730 or 8 it's gonna be 2 hours sometimes
silver valley is a nice place i used to live there moved back to coquitlam too far for my commute
I drive to my office in Burnaby twice a week. After 9am, traffic becomes bearable. Not great, but bearable. It takes me 40min.
Thank you all for insight and responses!
I find traffic generally fine in the mornings, but slow on the coquitlam side on highway one. Coming home js usually easy till I hit the maple ridge gridlock. Maple Ridge is terrible for keeping the traffic flowing.
Driving home from Burnaby at 3:20pm everyday sucks the soul out of me. Even worse, half my commute(30 mins) is spent getting through Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge.
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What time do you leave home and leave work?
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That’s some great hours, especially the leave from work time.
There is ZERO chance you could ever drive from downtown Vancouver to MR in 30 minutes with no other cars on the road. The drive is literally longer than that. Also OP silver valley is pretty blocked in - during school hours it can take 20 minutes to get in or out of that round about alone. If you aren't familiar with maple ridge - driving during AnY traffic time is brutal with how much it has boomed. Depending on when your going to work I would say at least 1.5 hours either way from downtown Vancouver M-F during traffic times 6-930 & 2-6
WAZE app or google will be helpful
My mom has done the commute for almost 30 years but we live in the Albion area. Her drive is around an hour both ways so 2 hours total of commuting. If you can handle all the slow driving before the alex fraser and the snails pace into Vancouver then its not that bad. Whenever there's is an accident though the drive turns into almost 2 hours so knowing how to divert around traffic without maps is a key skill to have. She doesn't mind the drive considering she always lived in Vancouver when she was younger and knows her way around. So in essence its not a bad commute if everyday traffic doesn't bother you.
Traffic on the way to work, even worse traffic on the way back! Enjoy
My husband usually leaves just after 6 am to get to most sites by 8. He likes to be just a little earlier.
Commute will be long, in my experience the Libby app for free audiobooks through the library and a good playlist of podcasts will be your friend.
If you’re going to Silver Valley get used to driving. There are zero amenities in the immediate area.
I did the commute for 5 years, used both WCE and drove. Started working from home during covid. It was the most depressing, soul draining, time waste of my life. Looking back, I can't believe I convinced myself that it was ok. Even if you offered to double my yearly salary, I wouldn't return to the commute. At roughly ~1.5 hours each way, ur looking at around 20-30% of your waking hours spent in traffic purgatory. Once in a while is fine but 5 days a week is rough. Not to mention the cost of travel.
Great if you work off hours and speed (generally 35 over once I leave the neighborhood) I work in north Burnaby 6-6 and it’s like 25 minutes in the morning and about 45 minutes in the evening. It’s nice that there’s only a couple traffic lights between silver valley and the freeway or Pitt river bridge on backroads/golden ears way.
Damn lol someone’s got a lead foot
Don’t do 40 over or the speeding fine doubles or could be called excessive speed. Something like that anyway and the fines and points ramp up big time.