Luton is very well connected, and most of its residents still drive. Three stations. Nearly a thousand bus stops. Gigabit broadband almost everywhere. And just under half of working residents commute by car anyway.
Luton has three stations, Luton Rail Station, Leagrave Rail Station and Luton Airport Parkway Rail Station, with direct trains to London and the guided busway linking the town to its neighbours. At the 2021 Census fewer than 3% of working residents took the train to work. There are 991 bus stops in the area, and under 7% of working residents went to work by bus. The town has more stations than most of its neighbours, and residents use them less than you would expect.
The Census also shows how Luton really gets to work. Just under half of working residents drive, about 22% work from home, about 9% walk and about 1% cycle. About a quarter of households, 24%, have no car, and about 33% have two or more. That splits the town into two groups that share the same streets: the households that get everywhere on foot or by bus, and the ones with two cars on the drive.
The Department for Transport's journey-time statistics are modelled averages for the area, and the public transport times date from 2019. On them, the nearest town centre is about 11 minutes by car, 14 by bike, 20 by public transport and 28 on foot. A GP is about 8 minutes by car, 11 by public transport and 12 on foot, and a food store about 8 minutes' walk or 7 by car. A hospital is about 16 minutes by car and 33 by public transport. Employment is about 12 minutes by car or public transport and 6 by bike. The distances to these places do not change, but bus services have been cut since 2019, so the public transport times are the least reliable of the set. On these figures the bike beats the car to work, and about 1% of residents cycle.
The buses are a proper service. Across the stops with timetable data, the average is 61 scheduled departures each weekday and about four buses an hour at peak, and about 95% of stops have some weekend service. These are current timetables, unlike the modelled journey times, so they are the more up-to-date guide to whether the bus is a real option.
Broadband is close to complete. Ofcom puts gigabit-capable broadband within reach of about 96% of premises, ultrafast also at about 96% and superfast at about 99%, and no premises fall below the legal minimum speed. Every mobile network covers the whole area.
Noise mapping is where Luton's connections show up in the bedroom. Official mapping treats 65 decibels as the point where road noise becomes significant, and more than 99% of the area's postcodes are near or above that level, with the loudest band reaching 75 decibels. Rail noise is mapped separately, and about 21% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels from trains, again reaching 75 at the loudest. Neither figure tells you how a particular bedroom sounds with the window shut. A house close to the line should be visited at the times its trains actually run.
The area has 60 public charge points with 102 connectors between them, and 7 of those are rapid chargers. With only seven rapid units, charging an electric car is mostly something you plan around, unless you can charge at home.
For a typical commute, Luton offers a real choice between car, bus, bike and train, and anyone working from home has fast broadband almost everywhere. Connectivity is one of Luton's real strengths, even if most residents still drive.