General Election 2017: What do the three main parties promise for the motorist?

So now the ‘big three’ parties have launched their manifestos, what do they have in store for the country’s motorists ahead of June’s General Election?

The Liberal Democrats have announced bold plans, most controversially pledging to ban the sale of new diesel cars and small vans in just eight years by 2025. They also want to extend low emission zones to 10 more towns and cities.

Announcing a diesel scrappage scheme, party leader Tim Farron said he wanted to launch a Green Transport Act and an Air Quality Plan to “reduce air pollution and protect UK citizens.”

The Liberal Democrats also plan to make all urban private hire vehicles and diesel buses run on ultra-low-emission or zero-emission fuels within five years and to support the manufacture of low-emission and electric vehicles to boost jobs and exports.

They also want to reform vehicle taxation to encourage sales of electric and low-emission vehicles and to develop electric vehicle infrastructure including universal charging points.

In the manifesto, Mr Farron says: “Air pollution in the UK is a killer. It contributes to 40,000 premature deaths a year and costs the NHS £15 billion. This year, London exceeded its annual air pollution target in just days. The government has failed time and again to comply with EU limits on pollution.”

Labour’s manifesto focusses on technology, legislation for taxis, upgrades to road networks and a bold aspiration to reduce the number of deaths on the transport network to zero.

The party wants to invest in low emissions vehicles to create environmentally friendly transport and any Labour government would “position the UK at the forefront of the development, manufacture and use of ultra-low-emission vehicles.”

This policy doesn’t just apply to cars, as Labour also seeks to retrofit thousands of diesel buses in the most polluted areas of the UK to meet Euro 6 standards.

On the topic of taxis and private hire services, Jeremy Corbyn’s party intends to change legislation and regulations in order to introduce “national standards to guarantee safety and accessibility’ as well as creating ‘a level playing field between operators.”

More pragmatically, Labour intends to carry out improvements to highways and reduce roadworks at bottleneck points. The manifesto says that the “A1 North, the Severn Bridge and the A30 provide essential connections and require our urgent consideration.” The party is also planning to work with the devolved Welsh government to scrap all Severn Bridge tolls.

The Labour Party says it wants to ‘reset’ Britain’s road safety vision, with the aim of reducing the number of deaths on the nation’s transport network to zero. Road safety targets will be reintroduced and “bold measures” will be set out to “continuously improve safety standards.

It concludes by saying the party will “refocus the roads building and maintenance programmes, connecting our communities, feeding public transport hubs and realising untapped economic potential.”

At its manifesto launch in Halifax on Thursday, the Conservatives chose to point out it was “working through one of the largest-ever investment programmes in our roads and railways” and “putting some £40 billion into transport improvements across the United Kingdom over the rest of this decade.”

It pledged to continue its programme of strategic national investments, including High Speed 2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, the expansion of Heathrow Airport. Like Labour, it also said it would scrap Severn Bridge tolls.

The party also announced its ambition to “lead the world in electric vehicle technology and use” and pledged £600 million by 2020 to turn “almost every car and van” to be zero emission by 2050.

The 88-page manifesto revealed the party’s intention to “invest in more low-emission buses” and pledged to “invest in roads” and to “continue to develop the strategic road network, providing extra lanes on our motorways and improving key routes.”

For the country’s beleaguered commuters, the manifesto says it will create extra capacity on the railways to ease overcrowding and improve existing routes, including for freight.

And for the cyclists? The Tories will continue to support local authorities to expand cycle networks and upgrade cycle facilities at railway stations.

So, now all you have to do is vote on June 8.