Urban Cycleways NSW

Team Name

The Diazes

Team Members

Project Description

In this project, we build on current data and infrastructure to respond to the challenge of how we can make NSW a cycling friendly state, particularly the urban areas. We are proposing a comprehensive approach to the challenge through a 5-point agenda.

First, we note that only the City of Sydney is represented in the open data portal for cycle networks. While Sydney is the primary urban area in NSW, we are missing a lot when we consider the dispersion of workers across other urban areas as a result of the pandemic. The NSW government has also actively pushed for the City of Parramatta as a second urban centre in the state. We need local council data for council-maintained cycling networks, not just for Parramatta but also for growing urban areas particularly in the Metropolitan Sydney region.

Second, bike lane infrastructure can be further improved. This will require significant investment by and collaboration between local councils and the state government. Bike lanes need to be included in development plans. In many suburbs, bike lanes become on-street parking, forcing cyclists to share the road with cars.

Third, we need to leverage existing data sets. For example, Transport for NSW already has data on roadworks and other events that impact the public transport system. This data can be used to inform cycle trip planning and route optimisation. In addition, existing data sets can be further improved. Local councils have the data on local construction and other works or events that impact cycle paths. This information, if provided to complement the existing data, will be very useful in trip planning.

Fourth, the GTFS feed from Transport NSW can be further improved to include information on bike carrying capacity, particularly of buses. Right now, the GTFS feed already includes information on passenger capacity, congestion and wheelchair or pram suitability. In addition, buses that cannot carry bikes can be equipped with bike racks to accommodate cyclists without cramming up bikes and passengers inside the bus.

Finally, with the improvements in data and infrastructure, the front end or customer facing digital tools such as Transport for NSW Trip Planner can also be improved. At present, multi-modal trip planning seems to mean having the option to choose between using the public transportation network or riding a bike. But it can be better than that. Multi-modal transport will be truly multi-modal. One does not have to choose between riding a bus or riding a bike to get from point A to point B. Options, such as riding the bike to or from a transport hub, or using the cycle network in between transfers, can be made available. Commuters will have the option to plan which leg of their journey will be on a bike and which leg will be on a bus.

Data Story

Under this proposal, data on available cycling paths and networks will be included as part of the public transport data set. Collaboration with local councils is critical to its success, as local councils maintain cycling infrastructure not currently in the available data sets. In addition, public transport particularly buses can be retrofitted with bike racks to accommodate bikes, and this carrying capacity needs to be included in the public transport data sets too. Finally, customer facing digital tools such as trip planners will need to be updated to include options that would allow active transport in any given leg of a journey.