Oxford Street now has a dedicated separated cycleway making riding safer and more fun between the city and our eastern suburbs.
Our most popular route for riding provides access to dedicated cycleways along Castlereagh, Liverpool, College and Bourke streets.
Riding is expected to become even more popular along the iconic strip and new data points to it being more accessible than ever.
A better way to walk and ride along Oxford Street
Even before we built the cycleway, Oxford Street was consistently one of our busiest routes with almost 3,000 daily trips recorded.
That number is expected to double in its first 12 months with the 1km stretch open and connecting riders between Castlereagh Street and Taylor Square.
“By building connected bike links, we’re offering people a viable transport option that is safe, cheap and encourages active lifestyles,” Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO said.
“No longer will people riding need to weave in and out of traffic competing with trucks, cars and buses along Oxford Street. People walking will also benefit as the project has improved crossings at side streets, created a buffer from vehicles, calmed traffic and will reduce the instances of people riding bikes on the footpath.”
It's hoped Transport for NSW will begin work as soon as possible on its Oxford Street east project which will connect people riding between Taylor Square and Centennial Park.
The Oxford Street west cycleway was jointly funded by the City of Sydney and the NSW Government through its Get NSW Active program.
The counts checking in on Sydney’s cool way to get around
Twice a year, the City of Sydney sets out to get a sense check of how many people are riding.
We’ve been doing this since 2010 and the numbers for our first count of the year are in. They show the highest number of trips ever recorded for these counts.
In March, there was a record 55,030 trips counted, up 7% from the previous year where we observed 51,271 trips.
We count at intersections across our area and the growth in the number of trips is highest at sites where we have built cycling infrastructure. Of the top 10, 8 have cycleways. These include Liverpool, Castlereagh, Bourke, Kent and George (Waterloo) streets.
Historically, the split throughout the day is fairly even but in recent years this has been trending towards more bike trips in the afternoon.
This shift in behaviour coincided with the ballooning popularity of share bikes in our area and 2025 saw the afternoon count 37% higher than the morning. Another possible factor is an increase in popularity of residents getting food and other items delivered by bike.
"It really is fantastic to see these figures trending up each year,” bike planner at Bicycle NSW Sarah Bickford said.
"It is very clear that safe and connected bike infrastructure 'rolls out the green carpet' and encourages people to ride bikes for transport.
"The City of Sydney is setting a high bar and inspiring change beyond its boundaries. Neighbouring councils are building out quality cycleways, under pressure from residents who have experienced what good looks like in the City of Sydney’s area."
Our twice-yearly counts monitor trends in trips at 78 intersections in the morning (6am to 9am) and afternoon (4pm to 7pm) peaks on one day only.
What about the 24/7 counters across our area?
There are permanent automatic counters on some cycleways that count bike trips all day, every day.
The average daily bike trips in March 2025 were:
- 1,758 on Bourke Street cycleway in Surry Hills
- 1,368 on Gadigal Avenue in Zetland
- 1,023 on College Street cycleway
- 1,018 on King Street cycleway (near Castlereagh Street)
- 878 on George Street cycleway in Waterloo
- 874 on Miller Street cycleway in Pyrmont.
Our work continues to make Sydney a city for walking, riding and better public transport.
Published 13 August 2025, updated 14 August 2025
