In an election dominated by Brexit, the climate crisis and the NHS, cycling is not most people’s top priority. However, with transport now accounting for a higher share of overall emissions than any other sector, helping people drive less and cycle more is arguably crucial in tackling climate change. Improving conditions for cycling could help our congested, polluted towns and cities, tackle the inactivity crisis, reduce the burden on the NHS and make streets and neighbourhoods safer and more pleasant. The Walking and Cycling Alliance wants £17 per person per year to be spent on active travel, rising to £34 per person by 2025. Spending is currently £7 per person annually. But some parties are recognising cycling’s potential and coming up with innovative and needed ideas. Others remain stuck in car land. Here is a quick guide to the key policies of the main parties.Main pledges: A £350m cycling infrastructure fund over five years (£70m a year), and “tough new design standards, which must be followed to receive any money”; a £2bn pothole fund; Bikeability training for every child; pilots of low-traffic “healthy neighbourhoods” to reduce rat running on residential streets, with increased provision “for separated bike lanes on main roads”; trials incentivising GPs to prescribe bicycles or bicycle hire to patients. There is mention of a “long-term cycling programme and budget like the roads programme and budget, though of course smaller”, though it is unclear if that refers to the £350m or something longer-term. Sign up for Andrew Sparrow's Election Briefing Read more Advertisement Funding pledge on cycling: £70m per year, each year of the new parliament; total £350m. Per head per year: £1.18 – so less than the current spend. Chris Heaton-Harris, transport minister: “Cycling is good for health, both physical and mental, and it’s good for the environment. Oh, and it’s fun. Both the prime minister and I are keen cyclists (although I’m a little more of a fairweather cyclist!) and our manifesto contains a bold offer for both adults and children. We’ll fund more safe bike lanes, fill in potholes and give every child the chance to learn to ride a bike – safely.” Analysis: The last Tory government may have overseen a decline in national cycling levels, setting itself up to miss its own targets by two-thirds due to a lack of funding. However, Boris Johnson is currently party leader – the man who, as London mayor, led a major cycling investment programme, with some excellent protected cycle lanes bustling from day one. With his former London cycling commissioner, the journalist Andrew Gilligan, now working in No 10, the Tories have upped their game a little.However, £350m over five years is tiny in transport terms and pales in comparison to what other parties are offering. Manchester alone needs £1.4bn for its city-wide cycling and walking programme. Proposed “tough new design standards”, similar to those introduced in London during Johnson’s mayoralty, are sorely needed. Many councils waste scarce funds on DIY standards, often with poor results. A pothole fund is similarly welcome: our decaying road surfaces are particularly dangerous for cycling. A dedicated cycling fund of a decent size could reduce cycle funding complexity, and pay for some of the currently unfunded council plans. This is not a decent size, sadly. The last Conservative government said cycling money existed in, among other places, the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), but even with a Tory council, this seemed impossible to get. On the B4044 in Oxfordshire, for example, the council removed plans for a bike path from a road widening bid to the HIF because they believed it “reduced the business case of the bid”. What’s missing: Adequate funding. Heaton-Harris agreed funding is piecemeal – but there is no guaranteed funding after five years, making it impossible for councils to make long term plans. The universal credit system needs clarity for disabled people who cycle, so they no longer fear losing their benefits for appearing “too active”. Main pledges: £50 per head per year on cycling by the end of the term, amounting to £7.2bn a year. Deliver 5,000km (3,100 miles) of cycleways within the first term; provide safe cycling and walking routes to 10,000 primary schools; £200 grants for e-bike purchase and support for an “e-bike valley” industrial cluster. Bring back Cycling (and now also Walking) England, axed in the bonfire of the quangos, to deliver councils’ plans. Ring-fencing of vehicle excise duty (sometimes misleadingly dubbed “road tax”) to include sustainable transport. Doubling of Bikeability funding to cover all primary school children, plus secondary school children, and adults. Fully fund the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy which sets targets to double cycling by adults and children by 2025. Cycling and bicycles on prescription; a “cycling and walking social investment fund” to support active travel in “left-behind areas”. Funding pledge on cycling: £4.7bn on capital funding with £2.5bn for revenue funding in the first year, skewing towards revenue funding in later years. Per head per year: £50 per head per year by the end of the parliament. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader: “I love walking and cycling so I’m proud of the policies we’ve announced today to give millions of people the freedom to walk and cycle along convenient, attractive routes, safe from traffic danger. These policies will slash carbon emissions, tackle air pollution, save our NHS billions and boost our high streets by making towns and city centres more pleasant. Our plans will transform opportunities so that travelling actively and healthily is an option for the many, not just the bold and fearless.” Summary: £8.2bn a year is a huge amount of money for cycling. This programme, if successfully implemented, would be transformative – opening up cycling as a genuine transport option up and down the country. Funds would come from vehicle excise duty, says Labour – ie the polluter pays. The goal of the plans is to cut congestion and air pollution, which is responsible for at least 40,000 deaths a year, boost health and improve towns and cities.