Safe and inclusive cycling: Why design matters

Alice Vincent has lived experience of navigating Sydney by bike after dark (Image: Alice Vincent)

Feeling safe is not the same as being safe 

A feeling of safety cannot be measured in a technical or statistical way. Perceptions of safety are shaped by lighting, visibility, noise, wayfinding, maintenance, social activity and our own lived experiences. These perceptions influence behaviour: the routes we choose, the times of day we travel, and whether we ride at all.

A short introduction to CPTED

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a powerful and practical framework for creating cycling environments that feel welcoming, legible and inclusive for a much wider range of people.

CPTED is a globally recognised approach used in many countries, with slightly different terminology and emphasis in each jurisdiction. In New South Wales, it is formalised through the NSW Police Safer by Design principles, which embed CPTED into planning and public-space decision-making.

CPTED is a design approach that uses the built environment to reduce opportunities for crime and increase people’s sense of safety. Rather than relying on surveillance cameras or enforcement alone, CPTED focuses on how places are designed, used, and maintained.

The four core CPTED principles are:

• Natural surveillance – enabling people to see and be seen

• Access control – guiding movement in clear, intuitive ways

• Territorial reinforcement – signalling that spaces are cared for and belong to the community

• Space management and maintenance – keeping places active, clean, and functional over time

Used carefully, CPTED reduces the risk of defensive or hostile environments. Instead, the principles support the creation of places which are active, human-scaled, and socially legible.

Alice’s projects often begin with ‘walking workshops’ or ‘walkshops’ with community members to gather insights into perceived safety during the day and at night. This group is exploring Strathfield in Sydney (Image: Arup)

Another group assessing the walking and cycling routes near Brisbane’s South Bank after dark (Image: Arup)

When applied to bicycle infrastructure, CPTED shifts the conversation away from often simplistic ‘paint versus concrete’ and towards how bike routes actually feel to use – especially for women and other groups who are currently under-represented in cycling.

Why perceptions of safety matter for cycling

In New South Wales, surveys consistently show that a large proportion of women feel unsafe in public places after dark. The 2023 Transport for NSW Safer Cities Survey found that women are significantly more likely than men to feel unsafe at night, and that these perceptions influence how, when, and whether people choose to travel at all.

While this research often focuses on walking and public transport, the same perceptions of safety extend to active forms of mobility, including cycling. 

For many people, concerns about lighting, visibility, isolation, and maintenance do not stop at the footpath - they shape decisions about whether cycling is a viable, comfortable option, particularly outside peak hours or after dark.

These perceptions matter because they shape behaviour. People may:

• Avoid riding at night, even on protected paths
• Choose longer routes that feel safer
• Switch to driving or rideshare
• Decide that cycling ‘isn’t for people like me’

This is really important for bicycle advocacy. Perceived safety must be considered alongside traditional safety measures, such as crash reduction and compliance with design standards. 

Infrastructure that only feels workable for confident riders, or only during daylight hours, will struggle to support widespread uptake. Infrastructure that feels comfortable, legible, and welcoming at different times of day is far more likely to be used by a broad cross-section of the community.

Applying CPTED principles to cycling routes

Natural surveillance: seeing and being seen

Cycleways that feel unsafe are often those where riders feel isolated, hidden, or trapped. Long stretches with blank walls, dense vegetation, underpasses, or poor lighting can discourage use – even if the path is technically separated from traffic.

Design responses include:

• Consistent, warm, and uniform lighting that illuminates faces, not just the path surface
• Avoiding sharp contrasts between light and dark that reduce visibility
• Removing or trimming vegetation that creates hidden corners
• Designing paths that run alongside active land uses, not behind them

In health precinct projects that Arup has worked on, improving lighting and visibility significantly increased people’s willingness to travel at night – because the environment felt more predictable and observable.

For cycling, the same principle applies: riders feel safer when they know others can see them, and when they can easily read what’s ahead.

WestConnex provided this uninviting underpass of Campbell Street in Alexandria, Sydney, with blind corners, tight spaces and potential entrapment spots. This area will need careful redesign using CPTED principles to make the path feel safe – particularly when the missing link on Alexandria Canal is filled in and the underpass becomes a more important part of the bike network (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Access control: Clarity and legibility

Confusing intersections, ambiguous path ownership, and unclear priority can all undermine a bike rider’s sense of safety.

Good access control doesn’t mean fences and gates. It means:

• Clear, continuous routes with minimal sudden changes
• Legible intersections that reduce conflict with vehicles and pedestrians
• Wayfinding that helps riders know where they are and where they’re going
• Avoiding ‘leftover spaces’ that feel accidental rather than intentional

When people don’t understand a space, they tend to feel less safe using it. Clear design reduces cognitive load, particularly for people who are already navigating stress, fatigue, or unfamiliar environments.

While this shared path along the Mitchell Freeway in Perth may look very attractive for cycling – a completely off-road, grade separated, fast commuting corridor that is safe from vehicles – it could actually feel very unsafe without full consideration of CPTED principles. Alice’s team at Arup has provided a CPTED assessment on the future Mitchell Freeway Veloway to resolve issues before concrete is poured (Image: WA Department of Transport)

Territorial reinforcement: Showing that cycling belongs

Paths that feel neglected or marginal often signal that cycling is an afterthought. By contrast, well-designed routes communicate that cyclists are expected, welcome, and valued.

This can be achieved through:

• Consistent materials and detailing
• Public art or lighting features that create identity
• Integration with broader public realm upgrades
• Clear maintenance regimes

Even modest upgrades can dramatically shift how people perceive a space at night. For cycling routes, this kind of investment sends a clear message: this is a primary piece of infrastructure, not a residual corridor.

The new Inner West GreenWay has artwork, clear signage, good lighting, passive surveillance from new developments and places to sit and rest (Image credit: Sydney Outdoors)

Space management: Keeping routes usable over time

A path that feels safe on opening day may feel very different two years later if lighting fails, vegetation overgrows, or surfaces deteriorate.

From a CPTED perspective, maintenance is central to safety and inclusion.

For cycling infrastructure, this means:

• Reliable lighting maintenance
• Clear sightlines maintained over time
• Rapid response to graffiti or damage
• Designing for ease of upkeep from the outset

Neglect signals abandonment. Care signals safety.

A lack of active management of the Gardeners Road underpass and the paths that lead to it has resulted in a very unsafe link in Inner Sydney’s regional cycling network on the boundary of Bayside and City of Sydney council areas (Image: BIKEast)

CPTED is essential to grow everyday cycling

If cycling is to become mainstream, our infrastructure needs to feel ordinary, comfortable and safe — not exceptional or risky. Design has a central role to play in making that shift, shaping cycling networks that work for more people, more often, as part of daily life.

When cycling environments are designed with perceptions of safety in mind, the benefits extend well beyond those who already ride confidently. Applying CPTED principles can help create cycling routes that:

• Feel safer at all hours, including early mornings and evenings
• Support a wider range of riders, across ages, genders, and confidence levels
• Encourage consistent, everyday use, not just peak-hour commuting
• Strengthen public trust in cycling as a legitimate and normal way to get around

In conclusion, CPTED offers a shared and practical language that reframes cycling investment not just as transport infrastructure, but as public space that supports everyday life.

Head to Arup’s website to check out its portfolio of night-time design, including some great videos. 

Before you turn on your lights and pedal away….

Bicycle NSW leads bicycle advocacy in NSW. This includes writing over 60 submissions and letters a year to governments, many of which focus on improving the safety and quality of bicycle infrastructure projects.