If you cycle in central Sydney, do you sometimes feel you have been transported to a place where bike riding is just a normal way to get around? Where people of all ages, on all kinds of bikes, cycle to work and school because it is the most affordable, enjoyable, efficient and convenient mode of transport?
It is clear to anyone using the cycleway network that more and more people are riding bikes in Sydney.
But what does the data actually tell us?
Last year we reported on the two key ways that cycling is tracked in Sydney.
- City of Sydney’s biannual manual surveys count cyclists at 78 intersections to provide a long-term picture of cycling trends.
- A network of automatic counters across Sydney record bike trips 24 hours a day. These include 26 high-quality MetroCount RidePod monitors with robust in-pavement sensors that City of Sydney installed in late 2025
Hot-off-the-press figures from March 2026 biannual counts reveal the highest count ever recorded in the surveys, up an incredible 20% from March 2025!
But there is more evidence of a bike boom.
We had a look at the data collected by the automatic counters for the winter months of June, July and August and found some even more startling increases in cycleway usage.
The massive uptick on College Street has been partly triggered by the completion of two major projects at each end – the Oxford Street West Cycleway which opened in July 2025, and the King to College Street connection, completed in December 2025. Note that the average daily figures include the weekends. On peak weekdays, over 2,300 riders use the College Street Cycleway!
The completion of the long-awaited northern access ramp has made a huge impact on the number of trips across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Peak weekdays see up to 2,200 users. The demand is still held back by difficult connections to the cycleway from the north via busy roads.
The ever-increasing number of riders on Moore Park Road highlights why Bicycle NSW strongly supports the proposal to make the Moore Park Road and Fitzroy Street cycleways permanent. Weekly trips on Moore Park Road have increased from approximately 2,000 in 2021 to more than 6,000 in 2026, a 225% increase. On peak weekdays, 1,200 people cycle on this route. The average for March 2026 was 908 per day. This is a 64% increase from the March 2025 figure of 555.
The eastern part of the King Street Cycleway saw substantial growth in ridership when the King to College Street connection and the Castlereagh Street Cycleway opened. Peak weekday counts top 2,100. The infamous three-block missing link between Clarence and Pitt streets is now under construction. We look forward to seeing what happens at this end of King Street when the cycleway is complete!
Sydneysiders kept riding through winter
Normally the cycling counts drop off quickly after the end of March. However, in 2026, the winter figures were almost as high as summer 25/26.
“While March is usually the peak month for bike trips, this year trips grew further in April 2026,” says Fiona Campbell, Manager of Cycling Strategy at City of Sydney. “The expected slump due to school and public holidays didn’t happen. On most cycleways, we saw a record numbers of trips in April.”
Graphs for a selection of City of Sydney cycleways show how weekday trips grew over the summer. The incredible spike for April 2026 is very obvious! (Image: City of Sydney)
“Winter was even more surprising,” says Fiona. “In July, the weekday daily average (over all the counters) was still 90% of the March number, and in August it was 96% of March!
“The Oxford Street West Cycleway remains the highest performer. We celebrated one million rides on 2nd July, just 11 months after it opened. The peak day so far was 30th April with 4836 riders.
“Based on how September is going so far on Oxford Street, with a weekday average of 4017 trips, I expect the first month of spring to surpass the highest month to date, April, which saw an average of 4063.”
What is behind these figures?
Bicycle NSW has identified 4 key factors behind the rapid growth in cycling:
1. High-quality new infrastructure has opened that is direct, inviting, comfortable and accessible.
Projects such as Oxford Street West and the Sydney Harbour Bridge north ramp roll out a 'green carpet' to new and less confident riders.
It is very clear that safe, separated infrastructure drives the growth in cycling.
Importantly, several of the recently completed projects have linked previously isolated cycleways into a cohesive network. This is the network effect. Just like people need more than one road to use a car, bike riders need bicycle paths that connect to form safe routes.
2. Shared bike numbers and use have exploded.
There were 3.5 million trips in the City of Sydney council area in the first 6 months of 2026. This is 116% higher than the same period in 2025.
Operators have introduced very competitive pricing models and fleets of new bikes that are easier to handle. The share bike service areas have spread north, south and west.
There are some challenges with this relatively new transport option but it undoubtedly provides more people with the opportunity to ride.
3. The weather has been perfect for bike riding.
Sydney had a very mild and dry winter. June, July and August 2026 were the warmest on record, according to data collected by the Bureau of Meteorology since the 1850s.
Winter rainfall totals ranged from around 30% to around 70% of average across Greater Sydney.
There were far fewer reasons to opt for the bus, train or car this year!
4. Conflict overseas has caused fuel prices to rise
High fuel prices, and the ongoing cost-of-living crunch, has definitely nudged people to ride a bike.
However, a very high proportion of commute trips into the CBD were by active or public transport before the fuel shortage, so it not straightforward to draw conclusions on the impact of fuel shortage on the cycling counts.
Where to find the count data
The biannual cycling survey data can be explored in detail on the City of Sydney dashboard.
Data from the network of automatic counters across Sydney that record bike trips 24 hours a day is on the Transport for NSW Cycling Counts dashboard.
It is important to note that while the counts provide an indication that cycling is growing fast in the City of Sydney, we can’t assume an equivalent uptick across the whole network in the council area. Some cyclists have changed their routes to use new paths, some trips pass multiple counters, and others are not recorded at all.
To quantify cycling trips and support further investment, the City of Sydney has commissioned new research from Urban Spectra to provide a robust estimate of daily cycling activity.
This analysis conservatively estimates 48,000 cycling trips occurred in the City of Sydney council area on a typical weekday in March 2026, derived from approximately 264,000 daily cycle kilometres.
There were around 26,000 trips in October 2021 and approximately 39,000 trips in March 2025.
This reveals a 23% uptick between March 2025 and March 2026, a little higher than the 20% measured by the March 2026 biannual survey!
Bicycle NSW will continue to monitor the cycling counts over the spring and summer.
Changing Gears for the next term of NSW Parliament
The growth in cycling in City of Sydney provides compelling evidence for the Changing Gears strategic advocacy plan.
When you build a network of connected, safe and attractive bicycle paths, more people ride.
Changing Gears will make it crystal clear to elected politicians that quality walking and cycling infrastructure is vital for healthy, fair, prosperous and liveable towns and cities.
Active transport must become a mainstream government priority for investment.
Before you head out on the cycleways…..
Please join Bicycle NSW and support our advocacy for better infrastructure and safer streets. You will also ride easy, covered by our comprehensive insurance and enjoy many other Member-only benefits.
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?
If you are not ready to join the Bicycle NSW family, then we would love you to consider a donation to the Australian Bicycle Advocacy Fund.