Hi

I am going to be working in Burnaby and downtown vancouver. Thinking about commuting from Squamish. Reason I like Squamish is chaeper rentals/ closer to Whistler/ outdoor life.

I have a couple of questions-

a. Does anyone on here do this commute on a daily basis (M-F)?
b. Is this commute do-able or is it terrible? Bear in mind I used to spend a huge amount of time on the M25 carpark around London.
c. Will this take around an hour each way?
d. What like is the road in winter?
e. Any other thoughts?

Cheers
Gary

I've not commuted that route, but have driven it many times at rush hour (on way to whistler). Once you are on the highway the traffic is usually pretty free flowing - at least I've never had an issue on it.

However once you get to taylor way and the roads leading to the lions gate the problems start. Especially if there is a jumper on the bridge, or some kind of accident and they have to close it. More than once it's taken me well over an hour to drive across the bridge and along stanley park causeway.

(edit: north of squamish it's the law to have chains or winter tyres - I don't think that's the case for heading the other way. Also they keep the highway fairly clear, so as long as you aren't setting off at 5am everyday it's unlikely that snow will be an issue for you)

One problem is that the locals know the route by heart, which makes them want to drive a lot faster than you are going. Some get a bit impatient.

Realistically it'll take you 1.5hrs door to door each way in rush hr traffic.

The potential savings in rent will soon be overshadowed by commute costs.

You can get the outdoor life much closer to your work for probably the same $ spend overall each month. That would give you much more time to enjoy the outdoors.

For example, I'm 20 min walk downtown, 5 mins in the car, or 10 mins transit. I can be up cypress mountain in 25 to 30 mins or a little more in traffic. Burnaby is 20 mins away. The beach is 5 mins. I can be in Squamish in 1hr, whistler in 1.5hrs. There's a ton of hiking within 30 mins of here.

There aren't many places in Vancouver where you're overly far from the outdoors or hiking or skiing.

If you do choose Squamish, it doesn't happen regularly but the road gets closed every now and then due to accidents.

Consider the cost of the commute in $ and your time. It would be pretty high.

I do it the other way sometimes - I have clients in Squamish and drive out to have a working day with them. It is a beautiful drive. I look forward to it every time.

Squamish to North Vancouver is an easy drive. You will do that easily within an hour. However, that is where the fun starts. The Lions Gate Bridge is the direct route to downtown but that can be a pig, even in the evening against the flow of traffic. The Second Narrows bridge is better for Burnaby but expect a nose to tail crawl along the Upper Levels highway to get there.

Whether it is doable or not will depend upon your employer. Can you flex your work hours to avoid the worst of the traffic? Will they understand that your erratic timekeeping is beyond your control? If you wake up one morning and hear on the radio there is an "incident" on one of the bridges can you stay and work from home?

It is nearly all a four lane highway now. Just stick to the slow lane if you want to enjoy the scenery.

He would certainly be better off with winter tires. I have driven along there in snow fall a couple of times and it was quite slippery with all seasons.

You're required to have/carry them between Horseshoe Bay and Squamish too, thoguh I've never been stopped in that section and haven't heard of anybody else being stopped either.

OP, if you're set on Squamish there's at least one Jack Bell Rideshare van doing the commute to downtown. I know one person that uses it then does the hop out to Burnaby on transit. I also used to work with somebody who lived in Squamish and worked in Surrey, though she arranged to telecommute a couple of days each week if memory serves.

If I were the OP I'd come over, stay in accommodation either in Squamish, downtown, or burnaby, then do the commute a couple of times in rush hour to get a real life guage on things. Calculate costs and time. If youre happy the brilliant.

By the sounds of things you've not spent much time in Vancouver so it'd be good too see what suits you.

I didn't know that.

I know they have the check point just after squamish so must have associated the law with that. Although I suppose somebody living in squamish is going to be going to whistler and so will have winter tyres anyway so it won't matter whether it's the law or not.