Middling: well wired, thinly served, and built around the car. Nearly four in ten work from home. Half drive. Almost nobody takes the bus. For most of Billingshurst, the commute runs down the landing to the spare room.
Billingshurst has its own station, Billingshurst Rail Station, and Pulborough Rail Station is the next option along the line. Yet only about 2% of working residents commuted by train at the 2021 Census. Buses do even less: the area has 32 bus stops, and the share of people getting to work by bus rounds to nothing. Having a station and using a station turn out to be two different lifestyles.
The real commute mix explains why. About 38% of working residents worked from home, 48% drove, 7% walked and about 1% cycled. Only about 11% of households have no car, and 51% run two or more. The village's transport plan is a laptop on weekdays and a second car for everything else. The station is a comfort blanket, and a useful one, but it's rarely the reason people stay.
The Department for Transport's journey-time statistics, modelled for the area rather than timed from any particular door, put the nearest town centre about 21 minutes away by car, 47 by public transport, 49 by bike and 119 on foot. Two hours to walk to a town centre is a long way from a walkable life. The public transport figures date from 2019, and services have been cut in many places since, so treat them with more caution than the car and walking times.
Everyday errands are closer. The same modelling puts a GP about nine minutes away by car, 24 on foot and 23 by public transport. A food store is about 13 minutes' walk or seven minutes' drive, which is where Billingshurst earns its keep. Employment centres are about 17 minutes by car and 20 by public transport. The hospital is the stretch: about 39 minutes by car and 88 by public transport, which makes the bus an option for a routine appointment only if you've cleared your afternoon.
The bus timetable matches the bus usage. Stops average 11 scheduled departures on a weekday and about one an hour at peak, based on current service data. Weekend buses do run, reaching 96% of stops, which is better than a lot of places manage. One bus an hour is a service you plan your day around, not one you turn up for.
Broadband is where Billingshurst beats its size. Gigabit-capable connections reach about 81% of premises, and superfast broadband reaches about 99%. No premises fall below the universal service minimum. The home-working share makes sense once you see the wiring.
Mobile data coverage from at least one operator reaches every postcode, and from all operators about 99%. Nobody here needs to stand in the garden to send an email.
Road noise is the price of living in a place built around its roads. Nearly every postcode sits near a stretch of road mapped at or above 65 decibels, the level at which official noise mapping treats traffic noise as significant, and the loudest band present reaches 75 decibels or more. That describes nearby roads, not what you'll hear from any given bedroom, so stand outside the house at rush hour before you buy. Rail noise doesn't register on the same mapping.
For electric cars, the area has four public charge points with eight connectors between them, and one of those is rapid. With a single rapid unit, charging is something you schedule, not something you do while the shopping gets done. Owners with a driveway and a home charger won't notice. Those without one will get to know that rapid unit well.
Billingshurst is averagely connected: first-rate broadband and a working station, let down by sparse buses and long trips to anything bigger than the corner shop. It suits a home worker with a car far better than a daily commuter without one.