Transport for NSW is developing a new Road Safety Action Plan to guide efforts to reduce death and injuries on NSW roads over the next 5 years.
Bicycle NSW has been involved with early engagement on the new strategy. We met the project team at a stakeholder workshop in late 2025, submitted feedback and ideas, and attended the May 2026 community forum in Sydney. Many Bicycle User Group volunteers attended the forums in regional NSW.
We have urged government to be very ambitious on things that will make a difference: reducing speed, reigning in the increase in vehicle size, targeted education and training, and delivering viable alternatives to driving at scale with much more commitment to walking, cycling and public transport in every corner of the NSW bureaucracy.
Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean has this key message for the NSW Government:
“Ministers and Transport for NSW senior staff must be able to look back from 2031 and say: ‘In 2026, we included bold and evidenced-based actions in the Road Safety Action Plan, even though they were unpopular, and we saved hundreds of lives in NSW.’”
Read on for our long list of ideas for new plan, and to find out how you can help amplify our message.
Minister for Roads and Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison addresses the Road Safety Action Plan community forum in central Sydney in May 2026 (Image: Bicycle NSW)
The last Road Safety Action Plan has clearly failed
The 2026 Road Safety Action Plan, published 5 years ago, set a target of a 50% reduction in fatalities over the decade to 2030. This would mean a maximum of 164 deaths in NSW in 2030. If NSW was on track, we should be facing no more than 245 unnecessary deaths in 2026.
Instead, road trauma continues to worsen in NSW.
The Transport for NSW dashboard shows that 357 people lost their lives on NSW roads in the 12 months to 20th May 2026. This is up 19 from the same time last year, and 37 from the 3-year average of 320 – an 12% increase.
The statistics are not looking good. Again.
Statistics from Transport for NSW’s Daily Update on 20th May 2026. ‘Towards Zero’ is not happening. (Image: Transport for NSW / Bicycle NSW)
Bicycle NSW is very concerned that the new plan will not change the trajectory
The NSW Government continues to sidestep actions that will deliver a shift in outcomes, instead tinkering at the edges of road safety to avoid upsetting car-dependent voters.
One example is the deep-seated reluctance to address high speed limits. Speeding contributes to nearly half the annual fatalities and a massive proportion of injuries but fines remain low, speeds remain high, consequences are insufficient and awareness is poor. 50% of people surveyed by Transport for NSW in March 2025 said they engaged in casual speeding!
In February 2024, a NSW Road Safety Forum was urgently convened after 2023 data was published showing a shocking 21% increase from 2022 fatalities. The overarching consensus was a commitment to lower speed limits. This is barely happened, and not at the scale needed.
Enforcement of existing limits remains inadequate. We sat through a presentation at the last Road Safety Advisory Council on 22nd April 2026 discussing tentative trials for Average Speed Cameras. Why was something that is proven to work not rolled out long ago?
Moves by councils to reduce speed limits to 30 and 40km/h on local streets, near schools and in town centres are rarely approved by Transport for NSW. Yet Centre for Road Safety analysis of pedestrian deaths and injuries between 2014 and 2024 shows why the default urban speed limit of 50km/h is completely unsuitable for places where people and vehicles mix.
Pedestrian serious injuries grouped according the speed limit of the road where the crash took place (Image: Transport for NSW Centre for Road Safety)
Lower vehicle speeds need to be at the heart of the new Road Safety Action Plan.
Bicycle NSW is also frustrated that an essential strategy for making roads safer is continually overlooked: reducing the need to drive by prioritising active and public transport.
Research suggests there are over 2 million car trips per day which are under 2km long in Greater Sydney. Switching some of these trips to active modes is low-hanging fruit for improved road safety. Mode shift must become a key government policy.
Families using bikes for the school run on the Kent Street Cycleway in Sydney. Fewer people driving improves safety for everyone – while also turbo-charging vibrancy, urban liveability and economic vitality (Image: Bicycle NSW)
The Bicycle NSW recommendations for the 2031 Road Safety Action Plan are grouped into 6 areas:
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- Reduce the consequences of a crash
- Reduce the exposure to crashes
- Increase public awareness of the impacts of road trauma
- Improve enforcement for all road users
- Improve driver education
- Include benchmarks and targets
The detailed list of recommendations is in the drop-down boxes below.
Adopting just a handful of our suggestions would be transformative for road safety outcomes in NSW.
Some of the measures may be unpopular when car-use is so baked into most peoples’ routines. However, the NSW Government simply needs to say “these are the desired outcomes and these are the actions we are taking to effectively address road trauma and achieve Vision Zero by 2050”.
How you can help shape the 2031 Road Safety Action Plan
- Fill in the survey on the Have Your Say page. Let the NSW Government know all your ideas for improving road safety. Please borrow some of the Bicycle NSW recommendations! The survey will close at 5pm on 22nd May.
- Write to the Road Safety Action Plan team at towardszero@transport.nsw.gov.au and send a copy to the Minister Aitchison and Minister Graham. It’s is quick and easy to upload letters to the online form, and your letter will be read and responded to.
- Join Bicycle NSW and support our hard work to making NSW safer for bike riding
Bicycle NSW is the only bicycle advocacy group based in NSW with full-time staff advocating every day for all riders. But did you know that we are funded only by membership fees and donations?
Not ready to be a full Member or don't require comprehensive rider insurance? You can still support Bicycle NSW’s advocacy with all levels of government by becoming an Advocacy Supporter for just $29 per year.
Bicycle NSW recommendations
- Put lower vehicle speeds at the centre of the 2031 Road Safety Action Plan. The Centre for Road Safety has all the evidence required to set lower and more appropriate speed limits on all types of roads.
- Implement 30km/h speed limits on local streets, in town centres, around schools and wherever cycling routes use vehicle lanes.
- Reduce school zone speed limits to 30km/h, and extend the school zone to 500m around every school campus. A critical first step to create immediate benefit and build community support.
- Tackle vehicle ‘bloat’. Cars and light trucks grow larger every year and no level of government has been prepared to address the danger posed to other road users.
- Pull available state levers to increase registration fees, stamp duty, tolls and parking fees for large, heavy vehicles.
- Advocate to the federal government to regulate on vehicle size and design – in particular to cap the maximum height of bonnet leading edges.
- Mandate Intelligent Speed Assist technology on all new vehicles sold.
- Introduce compliance regimes to identify and penalise unauthorized modifications to cars and utes that compromise steering, braking and suspension.
- Deliver viable alternatives to driving at scale. There is a strong correlation between distance driven and crashes. One of the best ways to reduce the risk of road trauma is to reduce the amount of time people spend in cars.
- Set targets for reduced vehicle kilometers traveled and mode shift to support a continual reduction in road trauma.
- Prioritise walking and cycling infrastructure in every corner of the NSW bureaucracy:
- Commit to increase and sustained funding for active transport. As per our NSW Budget 2026-27 submission, a $200 million Get NSW Active program commitment would allow many more walking and cycling projects across NSW to proceed.
- Scale up a delivery program for walking and cycling projects. Support local governments to build capacity to efficiently and effectively deliver active transport infrastructure.
- Build separated bike infrastructure as part of all current and future road projects. Despite some positive results from the 2021 Providing for Walking & Cycling in Transport Projects Policy, too many projects are proceeding without adequate provision – for example, the Milton to Ulladulla Bypass, the Warringah Freeway Upgrade and the Coffs Harbour Bypass.
- Fast-track the delivery of Strategic Cycling Corridors. Many years of work has gone into developing concept design for multiple corridors across NSW but nothing has yet been delivered.
- Ensure that all Transport for NSW projects comply with the Road User Space Allocation Policy and support councils to use the policy to create more space for walking and cycling.
- Always aim to deliver dedicated bicycle infrastructure. Shared paths are inadequate as populations grow and age.
- Unlock space in railway corridors to provide active transport routes away from major roads
- Close local streets to through traffic with modal filters to create connected of safe, quiet low traffic streets where walking and cycling is easy and attractive.
- Construct safe crossings and continuous, accessible footpath infrastructure, with a particular focus on access to shops, schools, stations and bus stops.
- Overhaul traffic signals practices to encourage walking and cycling. Employ additional Network Operations team members to proactively review a proportion (perhaps 20%) of signals each year and make adjustments to phasing to support vulnerable road users.
- Develop a program to rapidly roll out School Streets wherever appropriate to serve the majority of NSW students.
- Invest in public transport in regional areas. People love public transport when it is reliable and frequent, and increased uptake will reduce the kilometres driven on the most dangerous rural roads.
- Ensure that regional towns are connected by day return bus or train services to allow people to access medical appointments, work and education. It is much more affordable to increase services than build new and upgraded roads.
- Allow unboxed bikes on buses, coaches and trainsso passengers can address last mile barriers.
- Fund and deliver ongoing behaviour change initiatives to encourage sustained mode shift
- Rapidly expand the Bicycle NSW Student Bicycle Education Program to ensure that all children in NSW are taught bike handling, road rules, shared path courtesy and traffic skills.
- Communicate the ongoing and enduring impact of crashes to shift community sentiment. Send a strong and consistent message that road trauma is not an inevitable outcome of mobility that can taken for granted, but a shared responsibility that everyone must take seriously.
- Publish statistics and stories regularly, including the outcomes of investigations, always highlighting the human cost of the carnage on NSW roads
- Use the Emergency Streets concept to ensure that preventable collisions trigger systemic change. Emergency Streets is a rapid, visible, two-week long response to fatal traffic crashes to signal the road is under investigation and changes will be made to improve safety.
- Campaign relentlessly to make dangerous driving socially unacceptable
- Mandate improved media reporting. Although many organisations have worked hard to change the language journalists use, it is still very common for crashes to be called ‘accidents’, for vehicles not drivers to be responsible, and for crashes to be reported in sensationalist terms.
- Lead a statewide conversation on the benefits of 30km/h speed limits to build community support for change.
- Collect and publish accurate data on crashes, fatalities and injuries for both legal e-bikes and illegal devices.
- Set up a community reporting system based on the EPA's Report a Tosser! campaign or the South Australian Report Dangerous Driving hotline.
- Make much more extensive use of cameras to deter speeding and other offences. If a person is aware that they could be under surveillance, they are likely to avoid behaviours that will result in punishment. Cameras play a vital role in reducing crashes and saving lives.
- Reintroduce unsigned mobile speed cameras. Studies show that the removal of mobile speed camera warning signs in NSW would save anywhere between 34-43 lives per year in the state alone, and prevent more than 600 serious injuries.
- Roll out Average Speed Camera enforcement for all vehicles, without signage. The 2025 trial showed that there is community support, and provided clear evidence that cameras change behaviour. There is no need to do more trials.
- Use automated camera enforcement for additional ‘detectable traffic offences’ such as stopping on a footpath or bicycle path, and failing to give way at a priority path crossing - just as is already possible for stopping or driving in a bus lane, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone.
- Align enforcement to risk, with evidence-based criteria informing enforcement programs in conjunction with appropriate fines that are consistent with the level of danger from the offence to others.
- Require adults of all ages to refresh their knowledge of the road rules at regular intervals. A short test could be part of the driver license renewal process, taken on a computer terminal at Service NSW, alongside the mandated eyesight test.
- Roll out the BRAKE Driver Awareness program for all teenagers in NSW high schools
- Deliver ongoing education campaigns to ensure all drivers know how to share the road with bike riders. Rules around Minimum Passing Distance legislation and crossing a solid centre line to safely overtake a cyclist, for example, are not well understood.
- Shift the focus of enforcement and messaging from victims to drivers. For example, ‘Walk Safety to School Day’ sends the wrong message about who should modify their behaviour.
- Set and report on targets for the delivery of interventions that will make a difference to road safety outcomes. For example:
- The kilometres of separated cycleways constructed each year
- The number of regional towns with High Pedestrian Activity Areas introduced after a speed zone review
- The number of traffic signals to be reviewed and adjusted to better serve people walking and cycling
- The area of road space reallocated to active transport in accordance with the Road User Space Allocation Policy.
- Tie achieving the targets to executive remuneration.