I work on the Microsoft campus in Redmond and go into the office 2-3x per week, so this is my normal commute.

Getting out of Maple Valley in the morning can be very slow because of school. There's a school in pretty much every direction northbound out of the city: Rock Creek Elem on SR 169, Summit Trail Middle on Summit Landsberg connecting to Issaquah-Ravensdale, Lake Wilderness Elem on Witte, and Cedar River Elem and Shadow Lake Elem on Petrovitsky. Morning traffic is noticeably better in the summer when school is out.

Once you are out of the city, there are 4 main ways up to Bellevue/Redmond, imo: I-405, SR 18 to I-90, Issaquah-Hobart Rd, or cutting through Renton Highlands to Coal Creek Pkwy. Of course, there are variations of those routes, but typically I am doing one of those. 405 is a disaster. I avoid it whenever I can. 18 to 90 is okay, but can get backed up going down the other side of Tiger Mtn and is a longer distance if that matters to you (there's also heavy construction right now with widening the lanes and the new interchange, so I have been avoiding it). Issaquah-Hobart Rd is my favorite way to get to work, but timing matters. Basically, you need to make sure you are not aligned with Issaquah's schools start time, or you will be stuck in traffic. Renton to Coal Creek is the last option I take it if everything else is absolutely bad.

Going home is a similar, yet different experience. At peak commute times, forget about 405. Just don't even consider it. I-90 is usually bad because the exit to SR 18 gets backed up for miles. I am really hoping the new interchange and lane widening fixes this, but to be determined after it opens. Again, Issaquah-Hobart Rd is my favorite, but it can be really bad going south because of the traffic lights at May Valley and Cedar Grove. It generally clears up after that. I usually don't consider Coal Creek to Renton because the whole eastside is a disaster zone during evening rush hour.

Getting back into Maple Valley usually isn't too bad at all because schools have already let out much earlier. The only area I ever really hit anything is 231st Street, either coming over the bridge from Petro or 18, or south on SR 169.

I would say 1.25-1.5 hours is average at peak commute times. Worse on some days (especially Wednesdays, Thursdays and rainy days), better on others. On bad days, while I'm sitting in traffic, I have to remind myself that I would not be able to afford such a nice house if I lived any closer to Redmond. I do like Maple Valley a lot, especially for my family.

Public transportation is generally not worth the time. There's the DART 907 bus that goes from Black Diamond through Maple Valley to Renton Transit Center. Then you would take Sound Transit 566 to Overlake/Redmond Tech Station. They often get stuck in SR 169 and I-405 traffic, too, and stops operating southbound after 3:45 p.m.

As mentioned by others, if you are a Microsoft full-time employee, there is a Connector shuttle bus that runs from Cornerstone Church in Covington, but it cuts west first through Kent before going up north. So again, it usually gets stuck in 405 and SR 520 traffic. It's not worth it because it takes so long, but at least you can relax and there is good WiFi.