Transport

Today's cleaner burning fuels are a result of improved fuel standards. Fuels now contain no lead, less benzene and less sulfur. This has helped reduce emissions of particles and harmful gases and substantially improved our air quality compared to 20 years ago.

Read more about national standards for fuel under Regulations and incentives.  

Today's cleaner burning fuels are a result of improved fuel standards. Fuels now contain no lead, less benzene and less sulfur. This has helped reduce emissions of particles and harmful gases and substantially improved our air quality compared to 20 years ago.

Read more about national standards for fuel under Regulations and incentives.  

VR2 nozzle and coaxial hose

Every time we refuel at the bowser, VOCs (an ozone precursor) are released into the air. This also happens when oil tankers fill underground storage tanks at petrol stations. When you combine the number of petrol stations across the state with how often we fill up, it adds up to a lot of VOCs.

To combat this, new vapour recovery programs are being implemented across the NSW. Equipment which captures the toxic fumes when you fill your car is now required at all new or modified service stations in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast.

In Sydney, the new equipment to capture petrol vapour will be required at all of the largest service stations by 2013 and smaller service stations by 2016.

VR2 nozzle and coaxial hose

Every time we refuel at the bowser, VOCs (an ozone precursor) are released into the air. This also happens when oil tankers fill underground storage tanks at petrol stations. When you combine the number of petrol stations across the state with how often we fill up, it adds up to a lot of VOCs.

To combat this, new vapour recovery programs are being implemented across the NSW. Equipment which captures the toxic fumes when you fill your car is now required at all new or modified service stations in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast.

In Sydney, the new equipment to capture petrol vapour will be required at all of the largest service stations by 2013 and smaller service stations by 2016.

Walking to meetings can reduce air pollution.

Vehicle emission standards are set in the Australian Design Rules, which are enforced nationally under the Commonwealth Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989. For NSW, tighter standards have meant that new cars emit 32-67 per cent less smog forming pollutants than older cars. New standards for car and trucks manufactured after 2008 are reducing emissions by at least another 40 per cent.

The NSW Cleaner Vehicles and Fuels Strategy, August 2008 (PDF, 1.6MB) is part of the NSW Government's Action for Air plan and demonstrates an ongoing Government commitment to reduce pollution from vehicles and provides a broad list of actions the Government will take to introduce cleaner fuels and a cleaner fleet.

The state's Motor Vehicle Policy includes the NSW Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan which is a package of initiatives to make the motor vehicles on NSW roads cleaner.

• NSW Clean Car Benchmarks – categorises the environmental performance of light vehicles; this is explained in the Clean Cars for NSW Guide (PDF, 209kb)
• The Green Vehicle Guide – a consumer guide to the environmental performance of new cars and light trucks.
• Voluntary Clean Fleet Program – reducing diesel vehicle emissions from trucks and heavy vehicle commercial fleets.
• FleetWise - a NSW Government program to reduce fleet emissions launched in early 2010.

Walking to meetings can reduce air pollution.

Vehicle emission standards are set in the Australian Design Rules, which are enforced nationally under the Commonwealth Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989. For NSW, tighter standards have meant that new cars emit 32-67 per cent less smog forming pollutants than older cars. New standards for car and trucks manufactured after 2008 are reducing emissions by at least another 40 per cent.

The NSW Cleaner Vehicles and Fuels Strategy, August 2008 (PDF, 1.6MB) is part of the NSW Government's Action for Air plan and demonstrates an ongoing Government commitment to reduce pollution from vehicles and provides a broad list of actions the Government will take to introduce cleaner fuels and a cleaner fleet.

The state's Motor Vehicle Policy includes the NSW Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan which is a package of initiatives to make the motor vehicles on NSW roads cleaner.

• NSW Clean Car Benchmarks – categorises the environmental performance of light vehicles; this is explained in the Clean Cars for NSW Guide (PDF, 209kb)
• The Green Vehicle Guide – a consumer guide to the environmental performance of new cars and light trucks.
• Voluntary Clean Fleet Program – reducing diesel vehicle emissions from trucks and heavy vehicle commercial fleets.
• FleetWise - a NSW Government program to reduce fleet emissions launched in early 2010.

Cleaner cars aren't just cheaper to run; they're getting cheaper to buy thanks to lower stamp duty as part of the NSW Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan.

Find out how you can clear the air with a cleaner car.

Cleaner cars aren't just cheaper to run; they're getting cheaper to buy thanks to lower stamp duty as part of the NSW Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan.

Find out how you can clear the air with a cleaner car.

NSW Government agencies are leading by example, increasing the fuel efficiency of their own 25,000 vehicles

NSW Government agencies are leading by example, increasing the fuel efficiency of their own 25,000 vehicles. Cleaning up Government fleets will save substantial costs, and reduce air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55,000 tonnes over three years.

V8 powered vehicles are no longer desirable due to their poorer fuel efficiency, higher emissions and higher maintenance costs. More than 50 per cent of the Government passenger fleet now includes small, medium and hybrid vehicles.

NSW Government agencies are leading by example, increasing the fuel efficiency of their own 25,000 vehicles

NSW Government agencies are leading by example, increasing the fuel efficiency of their own 25,000 vehicles. Cleaning up Government fleets will save substantial costs, and reduce air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55,000 tonnes over three years.

V8 powered vehicles are no longer desirable due to their poorer fuel efficiency, higher emissions and higher maintenance costs. More than 50 per cent of the Government passenger fleet now includes small, medium and hybrid vehicles.

Find out about the NSW FleetWise Partnership Program

All businesses and not-for-profit organisations can join the FleetWise program to improve the efficiency of their fleets and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Heavy vehicle fleets can join Clean Fleet for audited maintenance.
Image courtesy of the RTA

Clean Fleet is an audited maintenance program developed by the RTA to improve air quality by reducing diesel vehicle emissions.

The program is open to fleet owners and operators that want to contribute to improving air quality. They commit to maintaining their vehicles in a way which minimise emissions. By becoming a Clean Fleet participant your organisation can promote itself as being environmentally aware and responsible and could save you money.

Membership requires a fleet maintenance program that complies with RTA standards for fuel identification and repair, scheduled vehicles maintenance, vehicles emissions and fuel quality. Ongoing membership requires independent external audit every two years.

Find out about the NSW FleetWise Partnership Program

All businesses and not-for-profit organisations can join the FleetWise program to improve the efficiency of their fleets and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Heavy vehicle fleets can join Clean Fleet for audited maintenance.
Image courtesy of the RTA

Clean Fleet is an audited maintenance program developed by the RTA to improve air quality by reducing diesel vehicle emissions.

The program is open to fleet owners and operators that want to contribute to improving air quality. They commit to maintaining their vehicles in a way which minimise emissions. By becoming a Clean Fleet participant your organisation can promote itself as being environmentally aware and responsible and could save you money.

Membership requires a fleet maintenance program that complies with RTA standards for fuel identification and repair, scheduled vehicles maintenance, vehicles emissions and fuel quality. Ongoing membership requires independent external audit every two years.

The Government is implementing the Rail Clearways plan.
Image courtesy of B.Peters

The Rail Clearways plan is an initiative of the NSW Government to strengthen reliability and increase capacity on the CityRail network, presently recognised as one of the most complex in the world.

This plan comprises of a number of projects to simplify the network to allow more reliable and frequent services and to increase capacity for future growth.

Park and Ride
‘Park and Ride’ helps people who don’t live near public transport to still use it to commute by driving to and parking at stations. Around 4,000 additional car parking spaces have been identified to encourage Park and Ride.

By 2011, commuter car parks will be built at Seven Hills, St Mary's, Glenfield and Blacktown.

The planned Wentworthville commuter car park identified in the State Infrastructure Strategy will be brought forward to 2009. Sites such as Revesby, Glenfield (multi-deck), Schofields/Quakers Hill will also be explored.

The expansion of commuter car parking has a budget of $45 million.

The Government is implementing the Rail Clearways plan.
Image courtesy of B.Peters

The Rail Clearways plan is an initiative of the NSW Government to strengthen reliability and increase capacity on the CityRail network, presently recognised as one of the most complex in the world.

This plan comprises of a number of projects to simplify the network to allow more reliable and frequent services and to increase capacity for future growth.

Park and Ride
‘Park and Ride’ helps people who don’t live near public transport to still use it to commute by driving to and parking at stations. Around 4,000 additional car parking spaces have been identified to encourage Park and Ride.

By 2011, commuter car parks will be built at Seven Hills, St Mary's, Glenfield and Blacktown.

The planned Wentworthville commuter car park identified in the State Infrastructure Strategy will be brought forward to 2009. Sites such as Revesby, Glenfield (multi-deck), Schofields/Quakers Hill will also be explored.

The expansion of commuter car parking has a budget of $45 million.

The Bus Priority Program improves bus travel times and reliability in 43 Strategic Bus Corridors across Sydney.

RTA Bus Priority Program

The RTA Bus Priority Program is improving the reliability and efficiency of buses by implementing bus priority measures on 43 Strategic Bus Corridors that link major centres across Sydney. Bus priority measures include:

• bus lanes
• bus only lanes
• bus early starts at traffic lights
• bus layovers
• bus bays at busy bus stops.

Over the past six years, some 136 bus priority measures have been completed on 28 key bus corridors. The bus priority measures are helping to meet goals set in the NSW Government's State Plan by:

• reducing travel times
• growing patronage on public transport by making it a more attractive travel choice
• improving customer experience with transport services 
• improving road safety.

The Inner West Busway was opened to traffic in January 2011 and has significantly improved this key Sydney public transport corridor. Dedicated bus lanes in peak periods give priority to buses to improve the reliability of services along Victoria Road though Drummoyne and Rozelle. For more information visit the project website.

Buses are versatile, flexible, efficient, run on existing infrastructure and take less time to implement than other forms of public transport, such as light or heavy rail. To provide better bus connections, the NSW Government is purchasing 1000 new air conditioned buses and providing more frequent bus services and reducing bus waiting times. Providing more buses where people want to go at greater frequency, encourages drivers to leave their cars at home and use a bus to get to and from work. This is helping to reduce traffic congestion at peak travel times. the average car carries 1.2 people while one full bus has the potential to take up to 50 cars off our congested roads. Sydney now has 149km of bus lanes - this greatly assists in giving buses priority over other traffic. 

The Bus Priority Program improves bus travel times and reliability in 43 Strategic Bus Corridors across Sydney.

RTA Bus Priority Program

The RTA Bus Priority Program is improving the reliability and efficiency of buses by implementing bus priority measures on 43 Strategic Bus Corridors that link major centres across Sydney. Bus priority measures include:

• bus lanes
• bus only lanes
• bus early starts at traffic lights
• bus layovers
• bus bays at busy bus stops.

Over the past six years, some 136 bus priority measures have been completed on 28 key bus corridors. The bus priority measures are helping to meet goals set in the NSW Government's State Plan by:

• reducing travel times
• growing patronage on public transport by making it a more attractive travel choice
• improving customer experience with transport services 
• improving road safety.

The Inner West Busway was opened to traffic in January 2011 and has significantly improved this key Sydney public transport corridor. Dedicated bus lanes in peak periods give priority to buses to improve the reliability of services along Victoria Road though Drummoyne and Rozelle. For more information visit the project website.

Buses are versatile, flexible, efficient, run on existing infrastructure and take less time to implement than other forms of public transport, such as light or heavy rail. To provide better bus connections, the NSW Government is purchasing 1000 new air conditioned buses and providing more frequent bus services and reducing bus waiting times. Providing more buses where people want to go at greater frequency, encourages drivers to leave their cars at home and use a bus to get to and from work. This is helping to reduce traffic congestion at peak travel times. the average car carries 1.2 people while one full bus has the potential to take up to 50 cars off our congested roads. Sydney now has 149km of bus lanes - this greatly assists in giving buses priority over other traffic. 

Social/recreational cycling on weekends grew by 67 per cent from 2001 to 2005.

Like cars, bikes are a form of personal transport and provide a good level of flexibility. They are also much cheaper and much better for our health, our air quality and the environment as a whole. With zero emissions (pollutants and greenhouse gases), the only thing riding a bike burns is calories.

The popularity of cycling in Europe, even in climates much colder and windier than ours, is a testament to its many advantages. And it looks like we’re catching on.

• In 2005, Sydney residents made more than 120,000 bicycle trips on an average weekday and almost 159,000 trips on an average weekend day. That's a growth of 23% on weekdays and 58% on weekends since 2001.
• Social/recreational cycling on weekends grew by 67% from 2001 to 2005.
• In 2007, NSW residents bought 430,000 new bicycles, beating the number of new vehicles registered in the same period by 75,000.
• 40% of Sydney households now have at least one bicycle.

Social/recreational cycling on weekends grew by 67 per cent from 2001 to 2005.

Like cars, bikes are a form of personal transport and provide a good level of flexibility. They are also much cheaper and much better for our health, our air quality and the environment as a whole. With zero emissions (pollutants and greenhouse gases), the only thing riding a bike burns is calories.

The popularity of cycling in Europe, even in climates much colder and windier than ours, is a testament to its many advantages. And it looks like we’re catching on.

• In 2005, Sydney residents made more than 120,000 bicycle trips on an average weekday and almost 159,000 trips on an average weekend day. That's a growth of 23% on weekdays and 58% on weekends since 2001.
• Social/recreational cycling on weekends grew by 67% from 2001 to 2005.
• In 2007, NSW residents bought 430,000 new bicycles, beating the number of new vehicles registered in the same period by 75,000.
• 40% of Sydney households now have at least one bicycle.