DPD academy commute time

[cicero]

Hey guys.

Moving to Dallas in 2 weeks for class 319 (thx JT). I'll be living in Richardson near 75 and George Bush. Anyone have any idea how long I should give myself for this commute? I tried it out the other day when I was down there for my final testing, took about 30 min in the middle of the day, but traffic was nothing.

Never lived in the area, but I've heard traffic can be bad. Is the red line of the dart a viable alternative? Do people actually use the dart?

[skipper2]

I'm hoping to get into the November academy and I'll be living in Richardson as well, some family of mine lived there for 18 years and from what they say it could take an hour in traffic. You might wanna just try driving in rush hour traffic just to see how long it would take you.
Congrats

[TexanOkie]

Going the opposite direction (from S Grand Prairie/Joe Pool Lake area) to Addison for work took me about 60-75 minutes in traffic. I've also taken DART. It's not faster, but it sure is less frustrating! It might be faster if you don't have to transfer to/from a bus to the rail. (Not sure how it'd work with academy stuff, though).

[jc3855]

Cicero, the traffic def makes all the diff. Id say an hour in traffic is a safe bet...but tht is just normal traffic no wrecks. Im comin from north of tht a bit from frisco. I have driven it and i did the dart rail. Rail takes longer but im thinkin it might be some good study time too. You have to ride red line to the last stop (westmoreland Station) and get on bus 550, its not far on the bus at all mayb 10 min and then u have to walk from out at the end of the industrial park road where the bus stops to the actual academy....thts mayb only a few hundred meters. The other thing that is sweet about DART is the cost, u can buy an unlimited bus and rail pass for like $40 month...which is less than just the cost of tolls for a month would be for me. not to mention gas and wear and tear on my car. Hope that helps

[JTShooter]

the guys in my class that live up there take about 30+ minutes to get here in he morning (arriving at the academy around 7am) and to get home it takes on average 45-60 minutes


Oh, and it's just "class 319", not "319th"

[beavo451]

I live in Richardson as well and when I was at the academy, I left at 6:45AM and usually got home around 6:15pm.

IM sent...

[cicero]

Thanks for the replies guys. Gives me a good starting point for a trial run the day before we start.

[beavo451]

Cicero, the traffic def makes all the diff. Id say an hour in traffic is a safe bet...but tht is just normal traffic no wrecks. Im comin from north of tht a bit from frisco. I have driven it and i did the dart rail. Rail takes longer but im thinkin it might be some good study time too. You have to ride red line to the last stop (westmoreland Station) and get on bus 550, its not far on the bus at all mayb 10 min and then u have to walk from out at the end of the industrial park road where the bus stops to the actual academy....thts mayb only a few hundred meters. The other thing that is sweet about DART is the cost, u can buy an unlimited bus and rail pass for like $40 month...which is less than just the cost of tolls for a month would be for me. not to mention gas and wear and tear on my car. Hope that helps

Yeah.... I would definitely NOT do that for the academy.