We've made our submission. Now it's time for the NSW Government to act
On Monday 29 June, Better Streets joined forces with WalkSydney to lodge our submission on the Walkable NSW Discussion Paper. With the support of our members’ lived experiences, we have presented eight clear, evidence-based recommendations for turning this paper into a real strategy.
Why we’re sceptical of another “discussion”
Transport for NSW (TfNSW)'s discussion paper says a lot that we agree with: 10-minute neighbourhoods, safer speeds, better crossings.
But much of this work has already been done.
Back in 2019, TfNSW quietly commissioned a Healthy Streets Investment Program business case - a fully costed plan for fixing NSW's walkability gaps. It was never released. And the Road User Space Allocation (RUSA) Policy already says pedestrians should be considered first on our roads, ahead of cars, freight, cycling and public transport.
Yet, a 2023 review found that nearly 40% of TfNSW's own road design staff did not know RUSA even existed.
So when an agency spends 100 pages “discussing” a problem it already solved on paper years ago, is that really a discussion - or just another way of avoiding to take real life action and actually fund the infrastructure our communities need and are asking for?
What our members told us
To make sure this submission was not just based on policy theory, we asked our members about their experiences. The results were clear:
More than half of respondents rated the walking infrastructure in their area as "fair" or worse
93% want more focus on safe routes to school
83% support expanding 30km/h zones near schools, shops and community facilities
81% want more pedestrian priority at busy intersections
72% support removing parking to widen footpaths
68% want accelerated delivery of Green Grids
Behind those numbers are real streets: footpaths that don't exist, forcing people onto the road at night; intersections with such long signal delays that catching a bus becomes a race against the lights; a suburban road where whole tree canopies have been lost to light rail implementation, leaving commutes hotter and shadeless than they used to be.
Our eight recommendations, in short
Fund what's already been proven. Implement the shelved 2019 Healthy Streets business case, ring-fence a growing share of the transport budget for walking, and publicly report spending by mode.
Give the strategy real weight. Embed Walkable NSW in the state's policy hierarchy - not as an optional add-on, but binding on agencies the way the Movement and Place framework already is.
Enforce the road space rules that already exist. Make RUSA compliance mandatory for every infrastructure project, with real consequences for ignoring it.
Separate transport walking from recreational walking. Around 90% of walking trips are for transport, not leisure - policy should reflect that split and stop diluting transport investment with recreational framing.
Use real data. Move beyond household travel surveys to automated counts, open signal data and proper school-trip mapping - and treat school travel as the major weekday trip generator it actually is.
Build in accountability. Appoint an independent NSW Walking Commissioner, amend the Roads Act to require documented pedestrian outcomes in every design decision, and strip out arbitrary rules that block simple safety fixes like zebra crossings.
Rate councils on capability, along the lines of Active Travel England's model, and match funding and support to what each council can actually deliver.
Coordinate across agencies so that footpaths, crossings and safe routes keep pace with new housing, rather than arriving years after residents move in - including removing minimum car parking requirements and directing growth to transit-rich neighbourhoods rather than car-dependent greenfield sites.
We've also pointed to London's Walking and Wheeling Action Plan as a model for the measurable, time-bound targets NSW needs - like automatic “green man” signals and countdown timers at every crossing.
Why this matters
None of this is abstract for the people who wrote to us.
A member in Waverley described a street where speed has cost a neighbour their life, sent a child to hospital, and made it unsafe even to walk to the local park. Another described a stretch of Sydney Road slicing through Fairlight and Balgowlah with almost nowhere safe to cross in nearly two kilometres. These aren't isolated complaints - they're the predictable result of a network designed, timed and funded around vehicle throughput first and people on foot last.
The evidence TfNSW is asking for already exists. The policy exists. What's missing is the political will to fund and enforce it. That's the message Better Streets and WalkSydney put to the NSW Government - and one we'll keep making long after this submission window has closed.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our member survey - your voices shaped every recommendation in this submission.
