And what is needed to make a difference
As discussed in the recent blog article A half billion dollar win for walking and riding!, Bicycle NSW is extremely pleased that the Australian Government has made an ongoing commitment to a National Active Transport Fund.
$500 million over 10 years was allocated in the 2026/27 Budget to support the construction of bicycle and walking paths across the nation. This is first time for many years that a significant federal investment has been dedicated to active transport.
There is so much work to do
After 80 years of designing our towns and cities around cars, every corner of Australia needs significant investment to build and knit together walking and cycling networks so that they are inviting and accessible for more daily trips.
The National Active Transport Fund will only scratch the sides of the task ahead. Luckily, there are more pots of money for walking and cycling in Australia.
The Bicycle NSW team has been digging into council, state and federal expenditure and budgets to better understand what is currently spent and what is needed to create a ‘Cycle-friendly NSW’.
This is not an easy task as walking and riding is rarely a primary government objective and investments are often obscured within road, rail, open space and public domain projects.
The M6 Active Transport Corridor through Rockdale Wetlands opened in December 2025. 4.1km of high-quality separated walking and cycling paths stretch from Kyeemagh to Monterey with links to residential streets and local parks. NSW needs a lot more projects like this! (Image: Bicycle NSW)
How much should be invested in active transport?
Active transport infrastructure is extremely valuable for governments as it provides a benefit-to-cost ratio far higher than other infrastructure. Research from Australia and the UK show that active transport infrastructure returns $5-$6 for every dollar invested. Other studies highlight far greater returns of up to $35.
The Bicycle NSW 2025 Federal election campaign aligned with the Better Streets ask of $400 million each and every year during the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026 to 2035. This would provide $15 per person on active transport annually, or a modest 2% of the federal road spend of $714 per person each year.
The National Active Transport Fund represents about $1.80 person per year. This falls very far short of the 2% goal.
And 2% is a lot less than the United Nations recommended spend of 20% of transport budgets on walking and cycling infrastructure!
What is a more realistic spend?
Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the largest cities in China invest between 10% and 20% of transport budgets on walking and cycling.
This would represent a massive political and logistical shift in countries like Australia where governments invest only a trickle of their road budgets.
However, an ambitious target is important to drive change, and focus attention.
World Bank Sustainable Transport Specialist (and Better Streets Board member) Sam Johnson spent 2025 at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands where he developed a compelling investment strategy for active transport.
Johnson calls on national and subnational governments to commit to a transformative yet achievable pledge: to invest 10% of road budgets in active mobility and liveable streets by 2035.
Check out the short briefing paper, the longer FAQs and a keynote presentation to learn how ‘Liveable Streets Investment Programs' could accelerate active mobility. You can also hear Sam Johnson talking about his proposal on the Squeaky Wheel podcast and Active Towns podcast (Image: Polis)
Governments are urged to use the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026-2035 as a ‘permission slip’ to rapidly scale up their active transport spend.
“Whether or not a government adopts a ‘10% by 2035’ target or some other target that is higher or lower, the most essential thing is to commit to increase the share of the roads budget spent on liveable streets year on year for the course of the UN Decade,” says Sam Johnson.
What would 10% mean in Australia?
The best figures we have for the total investment by governments of all jurisdictions on roads are set out in the December 2025 edition of the Australian Government’s Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook.
The Yearbook shows that in 2023-24, the public sector (national, state and local) spent $44 billion on roads.
With a population of 27.7 million, it can be calculated that $1588 is currently spent on roads per person in Australia.
A 10% allocation for active transport sets a target of around $160 per head per year.
What is spent by different levels of governments in Australia?
It is not easy to determine annual expenditure on walking and cycling infrastructure.
The Australian Government now has the National Active Transport Fund averaging $50 million per year, while the NSW Government allocates $60 million per year, or $7 per head, to the Get NSW Active program. Then there is council expenditure, which varies wildly. You can get an idea of your council’s priorities from its annual Operational Plan.
However, any research into investment is complicated by the fact that active transport infrastructure can be delivered both as part of major projects or as standalone investments. Some asset construction or renewal is tied up in road and public domain upgrade projects. Many shared paths, crossings and bike parking are delivered by developers, or funded by develop contributions. These investments are rarely set out clearly as line items in government budgets. They are difficult to quantify.
“We are chasing more detail so we can compare different levels of government,” says Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean. “We will attempt to provide a breakdown of spending for each jurisdiction as we build the evidence for investment in a ‘Cycle-friendly NSW’.
"Many local councils do spend a reasonable amount, but we suspect the state and federal government are well and truly underinvesting."
The fabulous Inner West GreenWay was a bipartisan effort, jointly funded by the NSW Government ($41 million), Inner West Council ($11 million) and the Commonwealth Government ($6 million). These pots of money were allocated over two decades by several governments. It takes careful accounting to keep track! (Image: Bicycle NSW)
But how much will a ‘Cycle-friendly NSW’ cost?
We don’t know yet.
“We will be doing further analysis to demonstrate why all levels of government must invest more in a ‘Cycle-friendly NSW’,” says Peter McLean. “It is really important to see a substantial increase in investment.
“We want to harness the political interest and momentum that has been generated in recent months by game-changing projects such as the Inner West GreenWay, the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway north ramp, the M12 Cycleway and the M6 Active Transport Corridor.
“So we are developing a strategic advocacy plan to convince decision-makers that quality cycling and walking infrastructure is vital for healthy, fair, prosperous and liveable towns and cities.
“The benefits aren’t just health- and environmental-focused. Cycling infrastructure realises significant economic benefits especially when we include the tourism, job creation and decongestion benefits.
“We won’t be re-inventing the wheel. We will draw on all the great work by councils, and the previous NSW and federal governments to create a comprehensive costed plan.”
This work is well underway and we will keep our Members updated over the next few months.
One more thing….
Join Bicycle NSW today and be part of a movement dedicated to safer streets and better infrastructure.
Our advocacy team has a seat at the table of all levels of government. For example, we are a key stakeholder for the review of the Roads Act and the new Road Safety Action Plan. Each year we write more than 60 submissions and letters to councils, ministers, government bodies and Transport for NSW. This is more than all the other state peak bodies combined!
If you are not ready to join the Bicycle NSW family, then we would love you to donate to the Australian Bicycle Advocacy Fund.