A decade of making walking and riding the best choice for everyone in NSW
Changing Gears is a strategic advocacy plan that builds on Bicycle NSW’s 50-year legacy of making NSW better for bike riding. It will provide important evidence to inspire politicians to lead change.
Our key objectives:
- Provide a compelling business case to governments that quality cycling and walking infrastructure is vital for healthy, fair, prosperous and liveable towns and cities
- Convey a united voice of action to governments to fast-track agreed priority cycling infrastructure projects
- Ensure elected officials understand that communities need, want and vote for walking and cycling infrastructure
- Gain funding commitments for visionary infrastructure projects across NSW
- Communicate the essential need for, and benefits of, cycling infrastructure clearly and succinctly to the media and the public
The overarching aim? To entrench and elevate active transport as a mainstream government priority for investment.
We have seen a welcome uptick in interest from all levels of government in active transport infrastructure. Over the last 12 months, fantastic new bicycle infrastructure has opened to the community.
Hot on the heels of the Inner West GreenWay (left image), the north ramp to the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway, the M6 Active Transport Corridor through the Rockdale Wetlands (second left image) and the M12 Cycleway out to the new Western Sydney International airport were completed over Summer 25/26. Both politicians and the community responded to these new routes with enormous enthusiasm.
The Oxford Street West Cycleway (second right image), which opened in July 2025, clocked up 1 million trips in 11 months. And the Casino to Lismore section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail (right image) once again proves the demand for safe active transport links in regional NSW.
However, momentum and investment must be increased – and fast!
Changing Gears is a compelling business case that communicates to governments and elected officials how quality cycling and walking infrastructure is vital for healthy, fair, prosperous and liveable towns and cities.
"We know people want to walk and ride more. But governments are not keeping pace with the demand for investment," says Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean.
"The people of New South Wales cannot wait 2, 3 or even 4 decades for more critical active transport infrastructure to be funded and built. It is time for a new approach.
"Changing Gears will borrow the lobbying strategies of the 'big end of town'. Other groups are very successful in garnering funding, subsidies and support to protect and grow their industry segment. For example, the airline, trucking and agriculture industries have successfully negotiated improved conditions, funding and subsidies through illustrating their value and impact to the Australian economy.
"We will make it crystal clear to elected politicians that active transport solves many intractable issues. Whether they care most about cost-of-living, fuel security, housing growth, the night-time economy, tourism, poor health, air pollution, congestion, biodiversity - or just getting re-elected - they can absolutely not afford to overlook the urgent need to invest at scale in walking and cycling."
The timeline
Changing Gears will be ready for distribution by the end of 2026, and it will be central Bicycle NSW's 2027 State election campaign in the run-up to voting on March 13th.
The work will build on existing known information as much as possible. New research has been commissioned to model demand as networks grow and connect, and confirm the community sentiment that strongly values active transport infrastructure.
Changing Gears is aimed primarily at elected officials. The secondary audience is media, senior government officials and the wider community.
Campaigning for more investment in cycling
One simple request for the 2025-26 NSW Budget
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