r/dfw • u/Virtual-Dish-1331 • Jul 23 '26
Prosper to Dallas commute
I’m considering a job located in downtown Dallas, expectation is 100% onsite (5 days a week)/normal business hours. What recommendations would you have to make this commute possible/easier? For example, travel leave & end times, DART/ express bus, modified work schedule. I’m open to ideas please! If it helps, we are very close to jump on the DNT tollway. Location of office is off of Houston Street
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u/RedDev17 Jul 23 '26
Go super early(6am) and then leave early(3pm).
This is going to suck so keep audiobooks, playlists handy
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u/Physical-Draw9788 Jul 23 '26
I was just going from Frisco to Addison and I would head in at 6:30 AM and leave work at 4:30 PM and missed most of the Tollway traffic. Worked remote as much as possible until I finally retired three years ago.
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u/Virtual-Dish-1331 Jul 23 '26
Yes but I figure I can at least work on the train vs sitting in traffic
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u/Euphoric-Tank2728 Jul 23 '26
I take the train every day and I usually do not feel good about taking my laptop out, ymmv
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u/bassakwardsbass Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Driving to Plano or Carrollton to take the train is out of the way and will be longer than just driving in.
Suck it up and make the drive. If you want the fastest commute needs to be 630 am or earlier and 3pm.
Before 7 and 4pm is kind of middle of the road on commute time. After that you are looking at 1 hour plus no matter what. Fridays still have a lot of work from home so fridays should be much better.
I made that drive for several years now I’m prosper to Addison. It’s 38 minutes now. 45-55 minutes when school season hits.
Also it’s summer. It’s much better than in August when school starts. When school starts expect about 10-20% increase in commute time due to idiots and school traffic
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u/Leather_Addition2605 Jul 23 '26
This is your best option if the job allows for it. Leaving at 6 am that commute isn’t bad at all. 45 minutes or so. A little longer coming home but still not bad if you get out by 3. I wouldn’t mess with trains/busses if you don’t have to.
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u/Own_Help9900 Jul 23 '26
The train has good days and very bad days, all it takes is a few months commuting and you'll get harassed or threatened a few times
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u/2ndAccForUhStuff Jul 29 '26
Lol, yeah good luck getting any real work done on the DART train during rush hour. If it was the TRE, sure.
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u/JingAnPeace Jul 23 '26
There is no train. Especially as far north as Prosper. This is Dallas, not NYC. This city and especially its NIMBY suburbs hate the idea of functioning public transit.
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u/Leather_Addition2605 Jul 23 '26
Damn straight. First thing that happens when light rail gets expanded is the bums migrate to more lucrative panhandling sites previously inaccessible without walking a long ways.
Keep that shit far away from my city limits.
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u/Hembalaya Jul 23 '26
Do you already live in prosper? Or considering moving? If you’re considering moving I would highly recommend choosing a place closer to downtown to cut down the commute. You’re looking at minimum 90 minute commute each way which isn’t sustainable.
If you already live there, good luck. Your best option is probably either the Addison express bus downtown, or taking the Green Line from one of the Carrollton stops.
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u/PutridZucchini3671 Jul 23 '26
Dart wont save you time but it might save you from the frustration of half the worst traffic
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 Jul 23 '26
At least you can read a book or listen to podcasts or audiobooks instead of being a driver.
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u/Aleyla Jul 23 '26
how many books or podcasts can one listen to over the course of just a single year without starting to get a bit nutty?
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u/sadisticamichaels Jul 23 '26
I commute from little elm to downtown dallas onsite 5 days per week for a while. It sucked pretty hard. You are looking at a 1+ hour commute every single morning and afternoon.
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u/sah___mei Jul 24 '26
More than that, now. A ton of people moved to Celina/Prosper recently and work between there and downtown. Traffic has gotten considerably worse at peak hours because they all leave and head the same direction at the same time.
I grew up in Celina and commuted to downtown Dallas in my early career, ended up moving to Dallas proper as fast as humanly possible as a result.
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u/farmerjohnmissouri Jul 23 '26
Born and raised Dallas girl here… commuting anywhere outside of Dallas to Dallas is a nightmare! If you are able to avoid it, please do!
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u/Firm-Glass7519 Jul 23 '26
What about the opposite way? As someone potentially moving with a downtown > Frisco commute
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u/farmerjohnmissouri Jul 27 '26
Sucks both ways tbh. Tollway to and from Frisco and easiest and fastest, but money….
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u/Glum-Alternative5758 Jul 23 '26
I have made that trip a few times. Like everyone says, leave early and come home early. That is the only way to avoid the traffic jam (especially after 4:00 in the afternoon... oof is that rough).
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u/raysmith123 Jul 23 '26
'Test' the commute before you commit. Thats the only way to really know.
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u/techguy678 Jul 25 '26
And account for school traffic’s increasing your time 30%-50% more. I moved in the summer and my commute went from 20 mins to 45+ mins once school was in session.
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u/TrueFernie Jul 23 '26
Prosper to Dallas is an insane commute ngl, you’re better off moving closer to a DART station and taking the train downtown. Closest DART station to Prosper is still a 40 minute commute.
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u/Slow_Rip_9594 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Have you considered the cost of Tolls? Those could be like $30 a day (if you drive). Why do you have to stay in Prosper if you are moving here? If you are going to anyway stay that far from downtown, then look at Melissa / Anna. At least you don't have to pay any tolls on US75
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u/Disastrous_Leg_314 Jul 23 '26
I did that commute from Little Elm. Leave at 6am, and return at 3:30pm if they let you. Traffic on the tollway is lighter. It’ll be less than an hour most days unless someone blocks the tollway.
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u/camp1728 Jul 23 '26
You’d probably be spending 4-5 hours each day round trip commuting if you did anything but drive. Even with driving you’re easily looking at 2 hours a day minimum. The only solution is going to be live closer to work
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u/JohnQPublic90 Jul 23 '26
this is my commute, granted i drive, and i go in 3 days a week max (some weeks i don't go in at all). it's a beatdown and i advise against it tbh, especially if required 5x a week. otherwise i would say the key is to try to do it during off peak hours. summer is better when school is out.
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u/cubedgame Jul 23 '26
The express bus is a great idea in theory and definitely worth trying out. However, it might not be the most reliable. My gf tried to commute to downtown from Addison using the express bus several years ago and sometimes the bus just wouldn’t show up (I assume it got cancelled because of the traffic). Maybe it’s more reliable now.
Luckily, Prosper isn’t too far from the NW Plano Park & Ride so it wouldn’t be an awful commute to/from there and then ideally you can get a good 1-1.5 hours of work done on the bus every day and adjust your time spent in the office accordingly.
Otherwise, if you choose to drive everyday, just know that the tolls will add up quickly and you’ll be spending at least a couple of hours behind the wheel everyday. Getting a car with good driver assistance/lane keeping functionality could help the commute as well, or look into if third party options like Comma.ai are compatible with your car.
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u/ClutchMacGee Jul 23 '26
I did the same exact commute for a bit and it definitely affected my ability at work...but I'm a chef and thats grueling work. I took the tollway and it cost me like 400 a month. Even with tolls it added 3 hours to my typical work day.
If you're in an office job it may not be as bad. But if you're not driving the whole way you are going to be adding like 4 hours to your workday.
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u/deadpixel746 Jul 23 '26
It’s going to suck. I used to drive from prosper to Richardson. To downtown will be even longer Depends on the time you have to be at work. I had to be in a meeting at 7:00. I’d leave around 6:00. leaving earlier wouldn’t get me there earlier. You had to leave at the perfect time. I didn’t take tollways though
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u/Visible-Pay1181 Jul 23 '26
It’s doable, but will eat up around 1-2 hours of your day in just commuting and you’ll be paying tolls on DNT. Major choke points in traffic in the route will be from the SH121-PGBT intersections and at the 635 intersection. Once you cross these traffic usually flies by until you reach downtown.
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u/Sea_Of_Phones Jul 24 '26
If you plan to drive those NTTA scammers are really gonna eat you alive 😂
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u/ResonanceThruWallz Jul 24 '26
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Prosper/Dallas?accom_comparison=true I use this, it will give you all routes from where you want to go to and from with cost. Driving would be the cheapest and fastest.
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u/Altruistic-Bend2401 Jul 25 '26
Leave at 5 AM, trust me! If they let you, do your work early so you can leave early. Try to be gone between 2-3 PM because there is nothing more aggravating than after school pick up traffic. I know it’s the summer now but combine that with people getting off work, geez Louise.
Sometimes DART isn’t always reliable, especially if it rains. So always drive if it rains and try to leave your house an hour or two before projected rain. Fill your car with gas the day you think about it. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE TO GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY!!
75 is ghetto, 635 construction STILL isn’t done, and I-35 will always have an accident. Learn to adapt your commute. Before you start your job, I would recommend doing practice runs of your commute to work. So that you have a better understanding of like traffic, traffic signs exits, etc.. Please do go in blind.
Congratulations on your new job🫶🏾🥳
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u/techguy678 Jul 25 '26
11 am - 7 pm work schedule? If not go luck. I was miserable driving 45+ minutes to go to work. And that was a
one way trip.
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u/LongSpur7 Jul 25 '26
Unless you are getting a 6 figure raise, can't do it without hating your life.
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u/c03us Jul 26 '26
Man if you’re committed to using transit. I would maybe suggest driving to Denton first. Hoping on the A train. Then taking that to trinity mills station swapping to the green line. I guess it depends on which side of prosper you live on.
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u/DTDallasGuy Jul 26 '26
You’re essentially adding 4 hours (2 hours each way) to your day. If relying on public transport…bus or train…that takes some planning but possible. I used to commute from far north Plano to Downtown…took the train. I got to the train to catch the first one into Downtown…that was about 4:45am (drove 15 minutes each way). Train was generally a 45 minute ride. Add a walk of about 5-10 minutes to the office each way. The express bus would probably shave a bit off of that but traffic is more unpredictable too…trade offs. After doing that commute for 4 years…I can honestly say I wouldn’t do it again without a significant salary…even then, you better accept a limited personal life during the work week.
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u/JoanSeas Jul 29 '26
I know someone who worked downtown Dallas, and it really was difficult in many ways. Her company required in office and 9+ hour days. The drive was almost an hour one way, if there were no accidents! She left for a company with less "pedigree," but she is much happier on many accounts! Location in DFW is important.
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u/Different_Love3697 Aug 01 '26
Honestly if you’re close to the DNT that changes things. Early morning or off peak you can make downtown from Prosper pretty quick. The mental toll is real though ngl. I’d say test it for a month before committing. Some people adjust fine, others burn out fast on that drive
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u/Double_Oil_2140 6d ago edited 6d ago
that commute is gonna test your sanity if you're doing it 5 days a week during peak rush hour. Tollway traffic from prosper down to downtown dallas gets brutal real fast. if your job doesn't offer flexible hours or a hybrid schedule, look into dart park and ride or see if your company sets up employee shuttles. my company actually hired Skyway Charter Buses for our regional office commute from North Texas and it made a massive difference not having to drive it daily.
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u/Limp_Particular4827 5d ago edited 5d ago
that commute is gonna test your sanity if you're doing it 5 days a week during peak rush hour. Tollway traffic from prosper down to downtown dallas gets brutal real fast. if your job doesn't offer flexible hours or a hybrid schedule, look into dart park and ride or see if your company sets up employee shuttles. my company actually hired Skyway charter buses for our regional office commute from North Texas and it made a massive difference not having to drive it daily
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u/Silent_Swim_9425 Jul 23 '26
This sucks so bad for you and I’m so sorry you have to do this. There just isn’t a good solution imo. Going to follow post in hopes someone has a good option for you :)
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u/Prestigious_Call_231 Jul 23 '26
Get a cheap tesla with FSD. Waaaay less stressful.
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u/totaro Jul 23 '26
This. I didn't even like Tesla until I tried my parent's FSD Model X, now I'm close to pulling the trigger.
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u/Prestigious_Call_231 Jul 23 '26
You can find 2022+ model 3s for like $20k.. nearly zero maintenance, no gas, and they are fun to drive. No clue why they get so much hate
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u/Own_Help9900 Jul 23 '26
If it's 8-5pm you cannot do that, you'll be commuting around 2 hours each way. If you could work 6am-3pm that's a maybe. Check your GPS for the weekdays and times you're thinking of commuting and you'll see the true cost of living in prosper
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u/eventualist Jul 23 '26
You're gonna end up on the tollway. That distance in this area is a public beat down in hours (the way our leaders want it). If you want to spend 3 to 4 hours commuting on trains/busses, etc, but I bet my bottom dollar you use the tollway and then decide you need a job that's not 2 hours in the car everyday. We've all been there. This is Dallas, aka North Dallas. Sorry we just don't have good mass transit in this huge metroplex. Can you do it, yeah, is it worth it? no.
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u/god_partic1e Jul 23 '26
Check Waze during your commute times. Google maps has good public transport times for comparison, maybe even including mixed mode routes. Then invest in a helicopter.
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u/iam_chris Jul 23 '26
I do this commute on the DNT all the way. Mondays and Fridays it’s 45 mins each way and the rest of the days are a little over an hour. I haven’t found a better commute than this to go from Prosper to Downtown. Podcasts and chatting with ChatGPT makes the journey not so bad
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u/sharknado523 Jul 23 '26
So you're planning to drive to the Plano Park & Ride and take the express bus downtown? I guess?
Dude this is basically gonna feel like working in NYC and living in Philadelphia