Many Sydney drivers will pay less in tolls under further relief measures from the NSW government, but some say promised meaningful reform is yet to be delivered.
Road toll relief was extended on Tuesday, with weekly tolls capped at $50 for the next year and the scrapping of a controversial administration fee.
Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane welcomed the changes, but said motorists were yet to see the systemic reform the government promised prior to the last election.
As part of a $561 million transport affordability package, the government will also freeze public transport fares for 12 months, the state budget handed down on Tuesday revealed.
Additionally, car registration fees, which in NSW can cost nearly $1000, will be cut by $100 for around 4.4 million vehicles while motorbike registration will be trimmed by $80
Registering a Toyota Corolla typically costs about $475, but that would be down to $375 after the relief. Registration for a BYD Shark would cost $944 before the discount takes it down to $844.
Of the 4.4 million vehicles eligible for the registration discount, about 1.9 million are in rural and regional areas.
"This is how we attack the cost-of-living crisis from every angle ... this is what choosing our own fate looks like," NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said in his budget address.
The weekly toll cap has been criticised as a continuation of what was always considered a "band-aid solution", according to Martin Locke, from the University of Sydney's Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies
A 2024 report, co-authored by former corruption watchdog chair Allan Fels, found Sydney motorway tolls were higher than necessary and weekly toll caps were deeply flawed.
Former roads minister John Graham said at the time negotiations with private toll-road operator Transurban presented an opportunity to take back control of tolls in NSW.
"That provided some glimmers of hope that there were going to be some policy changes, and the outcome of that has actually been absolutely pathetic," Adjunct Professor Locke told AAP.
Prof Locke said the government had been silent on what, if anything, it had achieved through negotiations with Transurban and branded the latest toll reforms "fiddling at the edges".
About 1.13 million trips each day are tolled in NSW.
The now-scrapped administration fees, which can be around $10 per notice, cost NSW drivers about $60 million in 2025/26 and often cost twice as much as the actual toll.
Meanwhile, more than 400,000 people using NSW's public transport system each day will benefit from 2025 fares for another 12 months.
The government will also spend $2.6 million improving its FuelCheck app, which shows drivers the fuel prices at petrol stations across the state.
