WeRide Pre-Budget Submission calls for reboot of active transport fund for 2026-27
30 January 2026 | Announcement, Government relations
Media Statement
30 January 2026
We Ride Australia has today called for the $100m National Active Transport Fund to be re-funded in the 2026-27 Budget.
The WeRide 2026 Pre-Budget Submission calls for a $100m program which supported 81 projects across Australia in 2025-26, to be reinstated for projects in 2026-27, and again for each of the next three Budgets.
The highly successful program to improve safety, health, access and community wellbeing through walking and cycling infrastructure was the brainchild of Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King when it was announced in 2024.
Key points
- Funding applications for 2025-26 outnumbered available funds by more than 4X for a total of more than a billion dollars in project costs.
- Australian Councils were awarded 75 of 81 projects – direct funding for local communities.
- Separated infrastructure addresses alarming recent increases in pedestrian and cycling crashes and deaths.
- Providing alternatives for unnecessary car trips increases productive use of roads for freight and necessary road traffic.
- More than 75% of Australians support investing in walking and riding infrastructure.
WeRide will provide its submission to the transport minister and MPs across the Parliament, as well as to Australian bicycle organisations and peak industry groups who have explicit policies calling for more investment in active transport infrastructure.
The We Ride Australia 2026 Pre-Budget Submission can be downloaded from WeRide’s website here: weride.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-27_We-Ride-Australia_Pre-Budget_Submission_final.pdf
Facts & Stats
- The economics of investment in active transport present a compelling case and the public support is significant.
- More than half of all trips for all purposes every day in Australia are just 5km or less, distances easily walked or cycled by many, especially those with limited access to motor vehicles
- The Australian Transport Assessment and Planning Guidelines report the health value of walking is $3.71 per km and the health value of cycling is $1.88 per km[1]
- Providing options to avoid car trips enhances the productive use of our roads for freight and other economically important transport tasks,
- Public support is significant – 76% of Australians support more footpaths and cycleways, and 60% support a government rebate for bicycles and e-bikes[2].
The choice of people to walk and cycle is heavily influenced by access to access to safe infrastructure, provided by the projects funded under the active transport fund.
- WeRide’s Australian cycling and e-scooter economy report found that 64% of people think riding on roads shared with cars is dangerous, and 64% of people think the infrastructure is not safe enough.[3]
- Dedicated cycling infrastructure, including paths that physically separate cyclists from cars, can help create safer cycling environments.[4]
Media contact
Stephen Hodge, Director – National Advocacy
stephen@weride.org.au, mob. 0411 149 910
www.weride.org.au
ENDS