In our latest blog post we have a guest entry from Scott Shirbin, who has recently returned to Sydney after several years overseas. His work with institutions, communities and movements navigating transition 'moves between systems thinking, public design, and storytelling'.
Inspired by a formative period in Mexico, Scott shares his vision for a Sydney with car-free Sundays.
Families, friends and strangers get together and take over Reforma on Sundays in Mexico City (Image: Scott Shirbin)
A memo from Mexico
Every Sunday morning in Mexico City, something remarkable happens.
By 8am, major streets across the capital begin to close to cars. Within an hour, the air shifts. Reforma (one of the busiest avenues in the city) fills with bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, wheelchairs, market carts and music. A quiet joy moves across the asphalt.
This is Muévete en Bici (Move by Bike), Mexico City’s version of the ciclovía, a weekly open streets program that now welcomes over 100,000 people each week. It is one of the largest of its kind in Latin America. But more importantly, it has become a quiet prototype for how cities can shift, socially, politically and spatially, without massive infrastructure spend.
And it is something Sydney should pay close attention to.
For a few hours each week, the city's streets are rebalanced to give a glimpse into a better future (Image: Scott Shirbin)
More than a street closure
Muévete en Bici began in 2007 as a modest pilot led by Martha Delgado, then Secretary of the Environment. It was not pitched as urban reform. Just a way to reduce car emissions and invite people to move differently.
But week by week, it grew.
Today, up to 55 kilometres of road is closed every Sunday. The city mobilises volunteers, mechanics, medical tents and snack stalls. Repair stands line the routes. Families ride together. Neighbours gather. There are no speeches. Just a pattern, repeated over time.
“Small things done weekly for 17 years aren’t small anymore,” one city planner told me, “They shape the city’s muscle memory.”
Why it works
- It makes cycling visible. By making bikes the dominant presence, even for a few hours, it rebalances what the city feels like. Visibility builds political will.
- It builds trust. People try a bike for the first time. Kids practise. Elders walk safely. Riders feel protected, even temporarily. Trust becomes a habit.
- It supports local economies. Vendors along the route report 15 to 40 per cent sales increases. Health researchers estimate over US$90 million in public health savings annually.
- It grows civic capacity. The system is supported by volunteer marshals, repair crews and community networks. It becomes a space where public life is practised. Not just consumed.
The success of Muévete is not just scale. It is that it works across levels. Most importantly, Muévete turns infrastructure from a noun into a verb. It is not just what is built. It is what is rehearsed.
Pets are very welcome to join in! (Image: Scott Shirbin)
What it has changed in Mexico
The weekly ride has contributed to a broader mobility transformation in the city:
- Over 300 kilometres of bike lanes have been built
- The public bike-share program (Ecobici) has grown to over 9,000 bikes
- The 2019 redesign of Ecobici used open contracting, inviting public feedback, cutting costs and increasing trust
- Community mapping and night rides (especially by women and LGBTQ+ groups) have led to targeted safety upgrades
Grassroots organisations like Bicitekas and Rodadas Rebeldes have been central to this shift. From painting unofficial bike lanes to organising visibility rides, their activism helped shape policy.
“We didn’t wait for permission. We started riding. And the city had to follow.”
The city sets up multiple mechanic stalls just in case something goes wrong. There are also skills training sessions for new cyclists, stalls set up by big brands and DIY zones (Image: Scott Shirbin)
What this means for Sydney’s Inner West
In Sydney, the idea of car-free Sundays has surfaced before, but usually as a one-off event or novelty.
What Mexico City shows is that the real power comes through repetition.
When streets close regularly, a new rhythm takes hold. People begin to expect it. They plan around it. They return to it. The street becomes a shared commons.
In the Inner West, where cycling is growing but still faces real safety and infrastructure gaps, a weekly ciclovía could:
- Provide safe corridors to test new infrastructure before it is built
- Showcase how active transport supports local business
- Rebuild trust in public space after years of polarised transport debate
- Support climate, health and equity goals without large-scale investment
And perhaps most importantly, it can be community-led. Infrastructure as practice, not just policy.
Each year there are several after dark Paseos Nocturnos centered around holidays like Dia de Muertos (Image: Scott Shirbin)
How we could start
We do not need to match Mexico City’s scale. But we can match its invitation.
- Start with a 2–3 kilometre route along an existing corridor. For example trying to link the major centres across the Inner West from Marrickville, Newtown, Glebe, Balmain, Leichhardt and Dulwich Hill
- Pilot it monthly, then shift to weekly
- Partner with local businesses, wellness groups, run clubs and repair collectives
- Invite joy. Make it safe. Make it regular.
Over time, the infrastructure will follow. Because what Sunday Streets teach us is that you do not have to fight car culture head-on. We should learn by doing. Not waiting to be asked.
You can ride around it. And build something new, week by week.
If you would like to help...
The first step is to join Bicycle NSW!
Bicycle NSW has been campaigning for a better environment for bike riding for almost 50 years. It 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?
Please 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.
If you are not ready to join the Bicycle NSW family, then we would love you to donate to the Australian Bicycle Advocacy Fund.