What would be the best time, in the morning, to commute from Vacaville, CA to Oakland, CA?

Question

I am thinking about taking a job in Oakland as a nanny. I currently live in Vacaville. She said I could be there anywhere from 7 AM to 9 AM. Considering it takes about 50 minutes to drive there, what time should I leave to avoid traffic?

Answer 1

There really is no "good time" to make that commute in the morning; there will be a great deal of traffic at any point of the morning commuting through the East Bay, whether it be on I-80 over the Carquinez, or 680/24 through Bencia and Contra Costa.

Your best option would be to leave Vacaville around 6:15-6:30 AM, which would allow you to avoid the worst of the traffic on I-80 that begins to start around 7:30-ish.

Answer 2

If you can be there at 7 then I would leave around 6. Traffic around the bridge in Vallejo gets pretty bad between 7 and 8. then again near the east shore freeway before the split to SF. Find some people to commute with if you can and use the carpool.