NSW Movement and Place Framework

Movement and Place is a cross-government framework for planning and managing our roads and streets across NSW. The framework delivers on NSW policy and strategy directions to create successful streets and roads by balancing the movement of people and goods with the amenity and quality of places.

In the past we’ve considered roads as just a way to get vehicles from A to B. The Movement and Place Framework recognises that streets are not just about moving people and goods – they are also places for people to live, work and spend time. Movement and Place is about getting the right mix of transport in the right locations to create places we can all enjoy.

Movement and Place puts our customers and the community at the centre of transport planning and delivery. It offers a common language and core process of collaboration to support meaningful discussions with communities about how to address our future transport challenges.

Movement and place streetscape

Movement and Place considers the whole street including footpaths, from property line to property line. It takes into account the needs of all users of this space including pedestrians, cyclists, deliveries, private vehicles and public transport, as well as people spending time in those places, whether moving around the place or enjoying street life including outdoor dining, waiting for a bus or watching the world go by.

The framework consists of guidance and a supporting toolkit for practitioners and evaluators as well as an Implementation Board and Steering committee made of senior executive staff from across the NSW Government.

The Framework replaces previous guidance in NSW on Movement and Place including the draft Road Planning Framework. The Movement and Place Framework and Guides are supplements to Austroads Guide in relation to Movement and Place in NSW.

Contact our Movement and Place team at Transport for NSW, or the NSW Department of Planning, Industry, and Environment for further information or any queries on the Movement and Place Framework.

Movement and place framework

Guidance

Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place (2020)

In partnership with Government Architect NSW, Transport for NSW has developed version 0.1 of the Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place (PDF, 5.5MB) for use on NSW Government projects. The practitioners guide sets up:

  • a model process for collaborative planning and project development;
  • a common language and understanding of place and movement;
  • a set of performance indicators to measure outcomes, set targets and assess project options; and
  • a way to classify roads and streets according to movement significance and place intensity.

If you are working for or with a state government agency on a project involving Movement and Place, the guide can be accessed here:

Read the Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place  (PDF, 5.5MB)

The Guide is intended to be updated in 2021 for public consultation and release for general use.

Movement and Place Evaluator’s Guide

The Movement and Place Evaluator’s Guide version 0.1 outlines a common structure for consistent evaluation of a range of decisions and project types, at various scales, and throughout the life cycle of a plan, project, or asset. The Guide is for decision-makers (Part 1), project managers (Part 2), and designers (Part 3) involved in reviewing and assessing place-based built environment projects with a significant land use and transport component.  

The aim of this guide is:

•    To support government agencies in applying the Movement and Place approach to built environment projects and plans

•    To collaborate across agencies to deliver a well-designed built environment; and

•    To produce more consistent, higher quality outcomes for movement and place across NSW.

Accompanying this Evaluator’s Guide, the Movement and Place Collaboration Report provides projects with a way to document outcomes at each step and demonstrate the process of collaboration.

The guide can be accessed here: Movement and Place Evaluator’s Guide.

The guide has been prepared collaboratively by Government Architect NSW (GANSW) and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) with input from a range of NSW Government agencies and local government representatives. The Guide is intended to be updated in 2021 following a period of internal testing alongside the update to the Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place.

Tools and Advisory Notes

A suite of tools and Advisory Notes are under development for practitioners to use in current and future transport projects.

Walking Space Guide: Towards Pedestrian Comfort and Safety

Transport for NSW has developed the Walking Space Guide to assess whether sufficient space is provided to achieve comfortable environments that encourage people to walk. A two page summary of the guide is also available for download.

Cycleway Design Toolbox: Designing for Cycling and Micromobility

The Cycleway Design Toolbox provides guidance for practitioners on desired outcomes for cycling and other forms of micromobility in New South Wales. Based on an integrated approach to planning, the design principles and recommendations outlined in the Toolbox aim to address both the movement function and place intensity of the location.

In addition to a suite of optimal road and intersection configurations for a range of cycleway types, the Toolbox establishes design principles for cycleways in specific contexts, including temporary initiatives, and public bicycle parking facilities.

Bus Priority Infrastructure Planning Toolbox

TfNSW has developed the Bus Priority Infrastructure Planning Toolbox (BPIPT) to provide strategic planning guidance on selecting bus infrastructure to provide bus customers with improved travel time and reliability.

The BPIPT supports project teams through improved bus priority planning and design that is safely aligned with a road and street's desired Movement and Place functions and a bus corridor’s role within the integrated transport network. A step-by-step process is outlined in the BPIPT that aids decision-making around allocating or reallocating road space for bus customers and identifying an appropriate bus priority type that is effective and context-sensitive. The document also includes various types of bus priority and conceptual layout examples for practitioners’ consideration.

Government Architect Advisory notes

The Government Architect NSW has led the development of the place aspects of the NSW Movement and Place Framework. Government Architect NSW publications and advisory notes that relate to movement and place are available on the movement and place page and the advisory notes page of the GANSW website.

Mechanisms

Movement and Place Implementation Board

The Implementation Board consists of Executive Directors from across Transport for NSW, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Infrastructure NSW, Greater Sydney Commission, NSW Health, Department of Education and Treasury. The Board provides support, guidance and endorsement to teams and individuals implementing the Movement and Place framework. The board also oversees the development of the NSW Movement and Place Framework.

Steering Committee

The Movement and Place Steering Committee is made up of Deputy Secretaries from Transport for NSW, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, and Infrastructure NSW, Department of Premier and Cabinet and Treasury. The Steering Committee provides high level coordination of Movement and Place across the NSW Government.