Around 1 million people live within a 30-minute bike ride to the city centre.

Imagine if they felt safe and supported to ride to work, schools and shops each day instead of driving or catching the bus.

Traffic on the roads could be just like it is on school holidays.

We’d have more people exercising each morning, becoming a little fitter, healthier and arriving at work sharper.

Major cities like London, New York and Paris have built bike networks and seen the positive effects first hand.

But we know riding a bike here in Sydney could be better.

So we recently spoke to more than 2,000 people to hear their thoughts.

94% of feedback was positive, with strong support from business leaders, local communities and workers who ride into the inner city.

• 97% thought building bike connections like cycleways and shared paths was important or very important
• 92% thought a network of regional cycleways extending throughout the inner Sydney was extremely important or very important
• 90% felt very or extremely comfortable riding on separated cycleways
• 79% felt only a little or not at all comfortable on high traffic streets
• 61% thought end of trip facilities with features like bike parking, showers and lockers were extremely important or very important when deciding to take a job
• 85% thought more driver education was extremely important or very important.

This feedback helped finalise our new cycling strategy and action plan for the next 12 years.

Connecting the bike network is our most important priority.

People told us the missing links they wanted completed first like the inner city’s King Street cycleway and the Liverpool Street cycleway.

They also want separated cycleways over shared paths where possible.

So we’re working on a new plan to build bike connections quicker. Our first focus will be the key links to get more people riding.

It’s a big job, but we aim to complete Sydney’s regional bike network and most of the local bike network by 2030. We’ll need ongoing support from our communities, and more financial support and quicker approvals from the NSW Government.

The priority bike routes we’re working on now include:

• Bondi to the city centre along Moore Park Road, which is the NSW Government’s highest priority
• connections to and around Central station
• final designs for extending the King Street cycleway in the inner city
• final designs for the extension of the Castlereagh Street cycleway
• new cycleways linking Green Square to Randwick
• new cycleways connecting Redfern and Newtown
• final design for a bike connection between the city centre and Sydney Harbour Bridge with Transport for NSW and Roads and Maritime Services
• more safe bike connections to Pyrmont and Glebe.

We’ll continue to support people to ride, with things like courses, free balance bike classes, free cycling maps, free tune-ups and events like the yearly Sydney Rides Festival.

We also support businesses to get more of their staff riding. There’s more than 52 major end-of-trip facilities worth $57 million dollars in the inner city, encouraging a healthier workforce.

Of course not everyone can ride, or wants to.

But we’re working on a safe bike network for people who want to make the switch.

The positive impact on traffic and the health of our community will be worth the hard work.

The City of Sydney cycling strategy and action plan (PDF 14 MB) was endorsed by Council on Monday 19 November 2018.