Increased public transport usage is approaching pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as workers return to offices and more options become available, prompting calls for a network that never stops.
More than 629 million bus, rail and ferry trips were made in NSW in the 2023/24 year - up almost 20 per cent on 2022/23 and climbing back towards a network-high 735 million trips in 2018/19.
That was before the city and southwest extension of a driverless train network opened in August.
Passengers on the Sydney Metro have tripled on weekends, with trains continuing from Chatswood under the harbour, through the city centre and on to Sydenham in the inner southwest.
About 215,000 people are using the extended service each day, up from 200,000 in its first week.
Many workers, including state government employees, have been summoned back to offices after pandemic-induced periods of working from home.
Other modes of public transport have been embraced by families and tourists at weekends when fares are cheaper.
“People are voting with their feet and are coming back to public transport, with ridership on light rail and ferries now surpassing pre-COVID levels on weekends," Transport Minister Jo Haylen said on Saturday.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union's NSW secretary Toby Warnes called for public transport to run 24/7.
"It’s one of those rare concepts that benefits everyone - the community, workers and businesses," Mr Warnes said.
But parliamentary transport secretary Marjorie O’Neill said demand was not there.
"If demand grows, of course we would look at it," she said.
The metro runs 22 out of 24 hours, with plans to extend transport operations for major events, she said.
Mr Warnes argued constant operations should not be a privilege reserved for those who lived near a metro.
"If we want to make Sydney a truly global, connected city we need 24/7 public transport for everyone," he said.
Transport secretary Josh Murray said patronage was growing, with passengers prepared to switch modes during their trip.
"Which has never traditionally been a great hobby of Sydneysiders when travelling, but we're seeing increasing numbers of people switch between bus and metro or between tram and heavy rail," he said.
A heavy rail line from Sydenham to Bankstown has been closed for conversion to driverless trains, with the metro extension expected to take about 12 months.
Buses replace trains in the meantime, putting some pressure on local commuters and road traffic, but Mr Murray said feedback from passengers indicated services were frequent enough to be reliable, despite taking longer.
Other metro lines plan to connect St Marys in the city's west to the under-construction Western Sydney airport in 2026 and duplicate rail capacity from Sydney city-centre west to Parramatta by 2032.
The first stage of the Parramatta light rail had been expected to begin taking passengers earlier in 2024, with hopes it will commence by the end of the year after further testing.
More than $2 billion has been allocated for the second stage to Sydney Olympic Park with construction expected to begin in 2025.
