A fresh approach to transport planning for NSW

Why we must plan

The population of NSW is growing. In the future we will require more housing, more jobs and new infrastructure and services to meet demand. A key consideration for government is how to plan for the future transport needs of a growing population. 

The way we engage with transport can affect our daily lives in many different ways.

It can be about getting to work on time, or being able to access essential services in regional areas. At the other end of the spectrum, it can involve decisions about the movement of millions of tons of freight that can impact the price of goods we all buy.

NSW needs an efficient and coordinated transport system that is world class.

The new integrated transport authority, Transport for NSW, oversees a vast range of activities that affect all people from across the state, including:

• Servicing around 295 million passenger journeys by rail each year on the 3,236 kilometres of rail track in the CityRail network alone.
• Licensing 4.7 million drivers and riders using the 5.3 million registered vehicles on a state wide road network of 184,761 kilometres.
• Operating State Transit buses for over 207 million passenger trips annually and providing approximately 15,000 bus services each working day.
• Contracting private and State Transit buses in the metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas of Sydney with a fleet of over 4,000 buses, including 2,198 wheelchair accessible buses.
• Providing CountryLink rail services to over 365 destinations throughout the state with a fleet of over 100 carriages. CountryLink also provides coach services in regional areas to enhance rail services.
• Providing ferry services on Sydney Harbour.
• Enabling alternative transport and active lifestyles through a system of 2,795 kilometres of on-road cycleways and 1,510 kilometres of off-road cycleways throughout NSW.
• Supporting pedestrians throughout the state, including around 90,000 workers within Sydney, or five percent of the workforce, who walk to work.
• Supporting the movement of over 25 million mass tonnes of freight through Port Botany each year.
• Supporting the road based freight task, including more than 5.5 billion kilometres travelled by heavy vehicles in NSW each year.

NSW needs to plan effectively to meet the transport needs of future generations.

As the largest state economy in Australia, NSW has an added responsibility to produce better transport outcomes for the national economy. An efficient transport system will help generate greater economic output, benefiting residents of NSW and the wider population.

Everybody has a stake in the future transport needs of NSW. That is why the NSW Government has initiated a fresh approach, with close consultation across the community, to develop a Long Term Transport Master Plan.