The All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking says a £25 target is reasonable, given the country’s ambitious carbon commitments. If the Treasury cannot provide additional funding, it suggests a reallocation of the Department for Transport’s core budget.

Five year funding settlements for local authorities to spend on cycling and walking and new national targets for active travel use to help achieve net zero by 2050 are among further recommendations.

The report also calls for Active Travel England to establish a ‘quality mark’ for authorities doing the best work and to act as a mediator where multiple authorities, for instance, wish to implement a policy not permitted by current regulations.

It is also recommended that a new Highways Act be created that requires all highway authorities to improve active travel facilities as part of any changes to the road network.

Co chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking, the MPs Ruth Cadbury and Selaine Saxby describe the set of recommendations in the report as “practical and constructive” and say the proposals will “help England to achieve its active travel potential”.

Commenting on the report, Living Streets’ interim chief executive Stephen Edwards said: “Funding for active travel provides excellent value for money, helping to tackle the costs associated with air pollution, inactivity and loneliness and helping achieve net zero by 2050 or before.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We welcome the APPG’s report, and will consider the recommendations carefully as we develop our Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy 2.”

Publication of the report came ahead of World Car Free Day today. Among those marking the occasion is Leeds City Council which has launched new ‘Streets for People’ guidance on how communities can temporarily close roads to host events with neighbours. Today the council is hosting a community event on the newly transformed Cookridge Street.

“We’re excited to see how the new toolkit will be used, helping to demonstrate how our streets can be used for people, not just cars,” said the council’s executive member for infrastructure and climate Helen Hayden.

(Photograph: Leeds City Council)