You can check traffic on the sigalert.com web site or the CalTrans QuickMap phone app.
You may want to check on the same day of week and time of day as you trip to see what the traffic may be like when you are there.
Thanks again @ProfessorPlum168 - you’ve been extremely helpful.
If we buy a Fast Track pass, how much would you estimate we need to put on it for a week going from LA to SD to SB and then back to LA? A quick glance indicates that it’s different agencies for different highways?
Hi @NewJeffCT Fastrak works for the whole state of California. Not sure about the others. I would say there’s
a 90% chance you will use the transponder for going from San Diego to UC-Irvine by bypassing 5 and taking the 73 toll road. The toll costs vary but from the start of 73 to UC-Irvine would probably add up to around $8-10? Not sure, never really looked. The other one you will most likely use is the 110. That’s a bit different IIRC. There are toll lanes for single drivers, but carpool is free (you would set your transponder to 2 or 3 people). If you somehow forget to set the transponder and you are in the toll lane for 110, it will probably cost $5-7 or so, but it depends where you get on and get off. There’s also the express lanes on I-15 in northern San Diego that uses Fastrak that the GPS may direct you to, but unlikely, given where you are intending to go.
I don’t think you’ll need it anywhere else in LA unless you are going more east and west. For the SF Bay Area you’ll need it more - to cross any of the bridges (Dumbarton, San Mateo, Bay, Golden Gate, Richmond-San Rafael), plus use the Lexus Lanes (Californians disdainly refer to toll lanes that single drivers can use as “Lexus Lanes”) on the 237-880 interchange and on parts of 580 and 680. Hope this helps!
Perhaps “Tesla lanes” is more accurate these days than “Lexus lanes”. Teslas are relatively common in the area, and eligible for the clean air vehicle stickers that allow use of those lanes without carpool or paying toll. Other free users include actual carpoolers, various other electric and natural gas vehicles with clean air vehicle stickers, and motorcycles.
Note that motorcycle lane splitting is not prohibited in California, so do not be surprised if you see more of that when visiting California. Be glad that they do it in traffic jams, since then they are not taking up road space that others can use.
oh well, looks like that AirBNB place near Chinatown was taken for the days we’ll be there… as was the place in Glendale. I saw one in Westwood, which I know is very close to UCLA, but it’s $140/night and then another almost $140/night for cleaning and other fees.
found one in Koreatown that seems good. My wife likes one in Gardena, but that seems like it would be a tough commute to UCLA (the hostess responded saying it’s 15-20 minutes to USC and 15-20 minutes to UCLA, depending on traffic - I found that kind of far fetched)
Have you tried the UCLA guesthouse? We prefer to stay there when it’s available. They have some 3 person rooms. Usually it’s around $200 per night, you have to phone them to book and can ask if there is a discount for prospective students.
no way Gardena is going to be a 20 minute drive to UCLA, even with no traffic. Probably will be 45 min in the morning, similar to Hawthorne. Parts of Gardena is also an iffy area, the northern part of it (north of say Rosecrans) and not close to the 110, you probably don’t want to stay there. (southern part of Gardena is ok though). To me, Koreatown would be a lot more convenient.
on the positive side - the early forecasts on weather.com have LA as being mid 60s during the day and low of around 50 at night, but showers several days that week. But, as I said way back at the beginning, the other choice was the upper Midwest and that is mid 30s for a high that same time frame and has snow showers and in the teens at night.
There was a great hotel deal on Travelzoo for LA this month, you may want to see if that hotel is in a good location.
When are you going?
@NewJeffCT Just did USC. PM me for specifics. Timing is the key to these freeways. Rush hour can double the commute. One school visit a day tends to be more relaxing and efficient. Enjoy the LA area but don’t expect an easy drive anywhere.
@sunnyschool - can’t believe this thread is still going. We’ll be there next week, but already have booked our hotels.
@NewJeffCT Have fun!
It’s scary to have a motorcycle come up on you, inches from your mirrors on either side.
Regarding motorcycle lane splitting in traffic jams… it is usually preferred to do it between the first two lanes on the left. Car drivers in the leftmost lane in traffic jams sometimes drive as close to the left stripe of the lane as they can to allow motorcycles to pass easily.
Hey @NewJeffCT just bringing this up to check in and see what you think of California…I wonder if the the college scandal has the USC or UCLA campuses buzzing today…
The scandals impacted Stanford, Yale and Georgetown too. For USC, this week may not be a good week to visit with the USC students on Spring break and you would not get a feel of the campus when school is in session. Also this past weekend, there was a murder from a robbery attempt about 1.5 miles from campus. I don’t think that was within the USC security patrolled parimeter.
^ his family trip is to Southern California campuses and not to CT or DC…in the last month or so someone has been killed outside of campus in more rural West Virginia U, Indiana U, etc and I’m sure it wouldn’t be a stretch if I were to guess that murders have happened relatively close to almost all big city schools within the last year. Point is, these things can happen anywhere whether you are rural or urban, small school or big school.
I was bringing it up to see whether the scandals were relevant just as the murder happened to a USC STUDENT this past weekend about 1.5 miles east of the USC campus. Did not mean to offend anyone.
Did he stop at Irvine as well? This week a UCI student was stabbed while walking her dog. https://abc7.com/stabbing-of-uci-student-was-sexual-assault-police-say/5185225/
Also, on Monday authorities released the cause of death of a UCI student who died in January as “accidental acute ethanol poisoning.” He had a blood alcohol level of 0.33. 
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/03/11/coroner-uc-irvine-student-died-of-alcohol-poisoning-following-off-campus-party-in-january/