NSW residents will not be required to carry identification while riding a bike, after another about-turn by the Baird government.
The government had said cyclists could face a $106 fine for failing to carry identification from March.
But Roads Minister Duncan Gay announced on Friday the government would not be pursuing the scheme, and would instead "encourage" cyclists to carry their emergency contact details.
This "alternative solution struck the right balance between safety and convenience," Mr Gay said.
The requirement to carry identification, which would have prompted an outcry from civil libertarians and cycling groups if implemented, was one of a number of changes to cycling laws announced last year by the Baird government.
But the chief executive of Bicycle NSW, Craig Meagher, said surveys had since shown 93 per cent of cyclists already carried identification when riding.
"It's not needed," said Mr Meagher. "Why create a policy for something that already happens?"
As well as proposing the mandatory ID scheme, the government has heavily increased fines for cycling offences.
As a result, the government collected $1.3 million in cycling fines in seven months this year, more than double that collected in 12 months two years ago.
Laws were also introduced requiring motorists to leave at least a metre's distance while passing cyclists in speed zones of 60km/h or less, and 1.5 metres in higher speed zones, though relatively few fines have been issued for this offence.
During a budget estimates hearing in August, Mr Gay acknowledged "people feel confronted by ID" but the government was still planning to require identification.
"One of the things that we are certainly looking at is better and cheaper ways to be able to do it, along with, as I indicated, less confrontational ways," Mr Gay said in August.
He announced on Friday that "emergency contact cards" would be made available through Cycling NSW and Bicycle NSW.
"At a time when the road toll is increasing across the country, this year's preliminary statistics show bicycle rider injuries and fatalities are stable or reducing in NSW," Mr Gay said.
Phoebe Dunn of the Amy Gillett Foundation said the organisation was looking forward to a "renewed focus on important safety measures like metre matters laws".
"The AGF recommends that people carry identification when cycling as a safety measure, but we do not support compulsory carriage of ID."
Dropping the identification requirement is the latest in a string of policy backflips by the Baird government. Others include reversing its ban on greyhound racing, and agreeing to shark nets on the NSW north coast.
Separate figures appear to show the number of people cycling in Sydney has dropped in the past couple of years.
