The RTA has created (with no publicity that I’ve seen), a website where they’re trying to get cyclists to tell the Authority where and how they ride. They say that it’s the:

first step in a NSW Government program to improve the availability of information about bike-riding in the State. In this first, 10-week phase we are asking cyclists to help us map the ‘bikeable’ street network in Greater Sydney – not the bike lanes, shared paths or marked bike routes that make up the existing cycleway network, but those links in the local street and path system that are good places to ride, being quieter, more direct, less hilly or simpler to navigate than a busy road

I can’t see any maps on the site at the moment, and maybe that’s not possible without signing up. Also, how useful this will be is unclear; if I had to upload tracks of where I rode, they wouldn’t necessarily indicate quieter or flatter routes, but ones that actually get me to where I need to go since there’s no quiet and stress-free ways to get there.

This site was mentioned on an OSM mailing list, and I guess that there’ll be some discussion about why the RTA isn’t using resources like OpenCycleMap, or maybe we’ll end up with something like Cyclestreets.net for NSW only managed by the RTA.

I guess any initiative that helps identify unsafe roads for cycling and helps make them safer, and makes cycling more part of mainstream city transport options, as this promises to do is welcome. Pardon me for being cynical however, when thinking about the RTA’s track record with cycling infrastructure and support.