Brentwood is very well connected, and most of its residents use that connection less than they used to. Several stations within reach run direct trains into London. Buses come often enough to be useful. Broadband is fast almost everywhere. Nearly half of working residents have stopped commuting most days.
Brentwood and Shenfield stations are the town's own, Ingatestone serves the north-east edge, and West Horndon covers the south of the borough, with Upminster, Harold Wood and Billericay a short drive away. All of them run direct trains into London. Even so, the census travel-to-work count put only 7% of working residents on a train and 1% on a bus. There are 228 bus stops in and around the town.
The census count shows how Brentwood gets to work. Working from home leads at 45%, driving comes next at 35%, walking takes 5% and cycling under 1%. About 16% of households have no car, while 39% have two or more. For a town built around two railway stations, the drive is still the main way out.
On the Department for Transport's modelled journey-time statistics, the nearest town centre is about 10 minutes away by car, 16 by public transport, 12 by bike and 23 on foot. The same modelling puts a GP about 8 minutes away by car, 18 on foot and 14 by public transport, and a food shop about a 9-minute walk or a 7-minute drive. The nearest hospital takes about 28 minutes by car and 46 by public transport, and the nearest large employment centre about 13 minutes by car and 21 by public transport. These are averages across the area, and the public transport times date from 2019, so they have aged faster than the car and walking times as services have changed. The hospital is the weak link, and a 46-minute bus trip is a long time to be poorly on a bus.
The bus service itself is current and reasonably frequent. Stops average 38 scheduled departures on a weekday and about three an hour at peak, and 98% of them have some weekend service. Those numbers describe a real service, and the 1% who use it are getting better buses than most commuter towns.
Gigabit broadband reaches 86% of premises, superfast 99%, and no premises fall below the legal minimum for a basic connection. Every mobile network covers the whole area for 4G or 5G, so a working day at the kitchen table holds up whatever the network.
Road noise is everywhere. More than 99% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels, the level at which official noise mapping treats road traffic as significant, and the loudest band reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is a separate source, and 57% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels from the railway, also peaking at 75. Brentwood made its money from traffic heading for London long before it had a station, and the traffic never left. If the house backs onto the line, go and stand in the garden while a few trains pass.
There are seven public charge points in the area with 17 connectors between them, and one of those is rapid. A town where nearly four in ten households run two or more cars is sharing a single rapid charger, so charging an electric car here is something you do at home.
Connectivity is one of Brentwood's real strengths. There is a station for most journeys, the broadband suits a home office, and the buses are better than the 1% who ride them would suggest.