Is it possible to commute from South San Jose to San Francisco Downtown daily?

gamma50g · Nov 13, 2015

I stay in South San Jose at Cambrian Park. I am getting a job at San Francisco downtown. I have a 2 year 9 month old toddler. My husband's job involves traveling. Calling ILs or parents is not an option as they are old and unable to travel :-( My daughter does go to a preschool near my house. It is open from 6 am to 6 pm.

My question is given my situation, can someone suggest how to manage time? The work hours will be regular. Im planning to drive to San Jose Diridion station and take a Caltrain from there to SFO. From SFO Station, the plan is to take a shuttle to work. Would this kind of commute be possible on an ongoing basis?

sslkgpaa · Nov 14, 2015

My husband had to commute around 60 miles (one way) 5 days a week for 1 year. Then my son was 4 yr old. It was tough but doable. He had no other work at home. I was working too so we took apartment closer to my work place. I was the one taking care of my kiddo and household. But if DH had to do somthing at home I think it would have been really tough coz at the end of the day he used to be completely exhausted.

gamma50g · Nov 14, 2015

Moving is unfortunately not an option for me. DH's work is ~17 miles from home but he has a lot of meetings and travels quite a bit. Things should be manageable as long as he is in town, but don't know how will I manage in his absence; but, I do plan to give this a shot and see how it works out. Yes, one thing you mentioned is true - at the end of the day, it would just be drop-dead exhausting due to the long commute .. Keeping my fingers crossed as of now..Thanks for the reply @sslkgpaa

stappe · Nov 23, 2015

@gamma50g , I used to commute from SAn RAmon to Palo Alto which used to take 3hrs to and fro everyday. It was exhausting for me . My kids used to miss me alot as I was out of home by 5:30 am.
I used to come back home early but used to be busy with household work and kids stuff. I was ok for couple of months initially but later my patience used to be very low .

It is not a long term solution by any way to commute long hrs specially when you have a toddler. Would suggest to reduce the commute if possible.

gamma50g · Nov 29, 2015

@stappe So true....I tried it out for a week. Had to get up by 5 am to drop my DD at daycare by 7. Still, used to reach SF by 9 am. Plus in those 5 days my train got delayed on return due to accident once. So, I got an idea of worst case scenario.

And commuting ~5 hours a day meant my DD will be in daycare for more than 11 hours and still I would not be able to be present at work for 8 full hours since I have to do my DD's pickup and drop off. So I chose not to take this job.

ditty · Jan 22, 2016

Yes, it is possible and I had done it. But like others said if the train gets stuck due to an accident or breakdown then it takes longer to reach home. So try to find a job closer to home if your husband goes out of station a lot since you have a small kid to take care of. Or find a home day care of nanny who can do little after hours in case you need on one of those days where the train is late. That may help. But yes it's doable. But you really need to leave early... Or would suggest you to move to Fremont to get to BART as it has more frequency and a better option than caltrain. Good Luck