Houston traffic question (288/Beltway)

Google Maps allows you to find out typical drive times based on time and day. According to them, to get to MD Anderson around 7am tomorrow from Clear Lake, it says if you take BW8 up 288, it's about 33-55 mins. Kind of a big range there, but you could always check tomorrow morning when it takes into account live traffic.

The drive time going straight in on 45 is 30 mins to 1h...basically the same.

 

Sorry to hear about your mother, thoughts with her and you.

I live just south of 288/BW8 and drive through to get to work, hitting it around 6:30am each morning. It will definitely be backed up but usually no more 15-20 minutes max from there to 610 (note that I don't enter from the Beltway so I'm not sure how bad it can get from this area, but I've never noticed it being awful). Once you clear that backup it should be smooth sailing to MD Anderson.

If you want to give yourself plenty of time, leave at 5:45. When I have to be at work early I leave at 6 and typically hit little to no traffic. The traffic on 288 gets progressively worse from 6:15-6:30, etc. Also have to keep in mind how far you will have to park, if you have to shuttle, etc.

 

If you pick her up at 6 am, just go straight up 45 and you'll be fine.

 

Hope everything works out!

 

I strongly suggest you use the traffic function of Google Maps. It is totally awesome.

I commute from Missouri City to/from IAH every day. There are 5-6 different routes I take and it's based on what Google's traffic maps say at the time. They are dead on correct.

Probably at some point most people will discover this but it's good right now that very few have. A few years ago I used the Houston Transtar app but G-Maps blows it out of the water.

 

Have you tried the Waze app? I don't drive quite as far as you, but do drive from Pearland to the 610/290 interchange so there are a few routes I can take. Waze is fantastic. I've found it to be a even more reliable than Google Maps.

 

never tried Google maps. Waze is terrific!

 

I tried Waze right after the Google acquisition was announced and found it to be a mess compared to G-Maps. It was far inferior at giving directions and traffic flow information.

Now that G-Maps has the accident reporting data from Waze, I really don't see the use for Waze at all.

Seriously: Tell me if (and how) it has improved. I'm open-minded. The social aspect of Waze has no appeal at all to me.

 

I'm not sure what it was like at first, I've only been using it for 4 months (when I started a longer commute). I was very skeptical at first and didn't think I would prefer it over GMaps but it won me over. It just seems to be quicker to respond to conditions ahead on your route and will let you know if your ETA is delayed so that you can look at alternate routes, or in some cases it will change your route for you.

I think the overall reporting is what sets it apart, allowing users to report heavy or standstill traffic (not necessarily related to an accident) and it tracks user speed so it knows exaxtly how well a route is flowing. Google always felt like it was a step slow on traffic buildups (and even accidents) to me...it would send me down a route that would look relatively clear, only to hit bumper to bumper.

 

Waze is awesome for spotting potential cop locations on roadtrips

 

I live in Clear Lake and work at MD Anderson in the Med center. Since it's the two of you, your best bet is to take the gulf freeway HOV. Even without using it, 45 tends to be faster than beltway. Seriously though, just take the HOV. I often pay 4.50 each way to take it by myself (2+ people only from 6:30 - 8:00 am. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions I can help with.

As others said, Waze is awesome. I use it everyday going both ways of my commute.

 

Based on comments here, I will re-install Waze and give it another chance.