An album of antique photographs spanning decades of road history offers a nostalgic look into an era of road trips before Google Maps, airbags and air-conditioning.
Transport for NSW has released an album of 60 images, dated from 1955-1982, of highway rest stops across the state's regional roads to its digital archive.
They provide a window into Australia's recent past, showing picnicking families in vintage fashion as well as now-classic cars and caravans.
The photos were taken near several of the state's key thoroughfares, including the Hume, Princes and Monaro highways, all of which have received major upgrades in recent decades.
NSW Regional Roads and Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison said the images were a blast from the past but also showed how far road infrastructure had come.
"I'm sure they'll trigger memories of summer drives in the days before podcasts and air-conditioning," she said.
""The album shows the long-standing legacy of the state government in improving our regional road network.
"Compared to the 50s, summer getaways are faster and safer," she said.
The national road toll has steadily fallen in the past 50 years, despite Australia's increasing population, after peaking at 3798 deaths in 1970.
But there was a spike in fatalities in 2023, when 1266 deaths were linked to road accidents - the highest total since 2016.
The historic image release comes as part of Transport for NSW's effort to digitise its archive of about 300,000 analogue photos.
The full album can be found on the Transport Historic Assets Library website.
New images will be released periodically.
Australian Associated Press
