{"id":576776,"date":"2026-03-31T18:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/576776\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:11:16","slug":"cyclists-and-walkers-surge-as-fuel-hits-record-highs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/576776\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclists and walkers surge as fuel hits record highs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NSW is scrambling to decide how to spend millions in extra GST revenue from record bowser prices after a plan to save motorists up to 10\u00a2 per litre on fuel crumbled in the face of disunity among states and territories.<\/p>\n

As the premier declared energy independence essential to guard against further oil shocks, there are warnings that any savings from the federal government\u2019s 26\u00a2-a-litre cut to fuel excise tax, introduced from Wednesday, could be wiped out within weeks.<\/p>\n

The cost of petrol is at record highs, reaching an average $2.58 a litre on Tuesday, and data shows more Sydneysiders are turning to alternatives such as cycling and walking.<\/p>\n

\"CyclistCyclist Ty Christo says he will use his bike to get around more after spiking fuel costs.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

Premiers and chief ministers all agreed not to bank the GST windfall, but they would not commit to the plan preferred by NSW that would have cut 7\u00a2 to 10\u00a2 a litre on top of the fuel excise cut.<\/p>\n

Before the meeting of premiers and chief ministers, NSW Premier Chris Minns said reducing the price at the bowser was the quickest way of getting savings into people\u2019s pockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some complexity around GST arrangements that, if we had the time, would be easy to sort out, but given the tightness at the time, the need to return this to NSW commuters, in fact, commuters and motorists right across the country, we want to look at a commonsense and practical way of returning that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The NSW government is yet to indicate how it might return the extra millions raised in GST revenue to taxpayers since the talks collapsed on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A Victorian government spokesperson said the state proposed using the windfall to support agriculture, but that NSW had rejected the idea.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson denied that Victoria needed the GST revenue to meet the estimated $70 million cost of providing free public transport for a month. \u201cNothing has been decided,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The Queensland government has committed to returning the excess GST to households through cost-of-living relief, but it was yet to announce what those measures would be.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At 7am on Tuesday, 61 petrol stations in NSW were out of all fuel, and 247 were out of diesel, taking out 10 per cent of petrol stations statewide.<\/p>\n

Minns declared NSW needed more electric vehicles, more charging stations and more renewable energy to protect against economic shocks from war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Energy independence will be a feature of the upcoming state budget and a focus of the next election campaign, but Minns did not have any further details on what measures that might include.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019d be a mug to believe this is the only conflict we\u2019re going to see in the Middle East, and [that] we have to take long-term measures to electrify our economy says that we\u2019re not as dependent on Middle Eastern oil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Minns said EVs should be available for everyone \u2013 not just \u201cfor snobs that live in the eastern suburbs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to be available to regular mums and dads, and that means, particularly if they\u2019re travelling and driving for work, they don\u2019t have range anxiety, they can get access to a recharger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen earlier in March said solar and EV uptake had been higher in Sydney\u2019s west \u2013 where people have longer commutes and more space for solar panels and EV charging \u2013 than in the city\u2019s east.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more solar panels in Blacktown than Bondi. There are more EVs in Penrith than Paddington,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Australian Industry Group analysis, cars and utes account for 39 per cent of oil used in Australia, the largest single sector, followed by trucks, which use 13 per cent.<\/p>\n

More Sydneysiders are opting to ride bikes or walk rather than paying soaring fuel costs,. New data shows record or near-record numbers of daily bike trips, despite poor weather across the city.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bike paths in Redfern, Ultimo, Zetland and Waterloo all recorded triple-digit increases in activity this month, compared to the past three-month and annual average trip numbers, Transport for NSW automatic bike path counter data shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Oxford Street cycleway, which opened in July<\/a>, is the city\u2019s busiest bike route. More than 3200 trips were made per day in March \u2013 more than double the Harbour Bridge cycleway, which was Sydney\u2019s most-frequently ridden route.<\/p>\n

A $39 million cycle ramp<\/a> at the northern end of the Harbour Bridge opened on January 6, boosting daily trips by 42 per cent compared to December.<\/p>\n

Pyrmont Bridge Road was the second-busiest bike path, followed by Bourke Street, south of Taylor Square, both of which had more than 2300 cyclist trips per day this month.<\/p>\n

\"CyclistsCyclists have flocked to the new bike ramp at the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean said time would tell whether the uptick in cycling would become a habit for Sydneysiders.<\/p>\n

Ballooning petrol prices kept retired mechanic Ty Christo from getting behind the wheel of his vehicles, one of which runs on diesel: \u201cI\u2019ve got two thirsty cars, and they\u2019re not the best to drive around town all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re close to work anyway, and you don\u2019t have to drive, [why not] ride to work every day?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cronulla local frequently cycled about 15 minutes to and from work, and would drive only in bad weather.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JessicaJessica McSweeney<\/a> is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering urban affairs and state politics.Connect via email<\/a>.\"NickNick O’Malley<\/a> is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent.Connect via email<\/a>.\"CindyCindy Yin<\/a> is an urban affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.\"ChipChip Le Grand<\/a> leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper\u2019s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years\u2019 experience.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-576776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}