Local authorities can apply to Active Travel England for funding to deliver walking and cycling improvements.
In February, Plymouth City Council received £1.3m from the Department for Transport-sponsored agency.
The local authority said some of this money was being spent on a high-quality traffic-free route between Colesdown Hill and Saltram Meadow.
But Mark Swarbrick said many of the cycle routes in the city were not connected to each other, making it necessary to ride on roads unprotected.
He said: “We’re well short of the sort of network that’s required to encourage active travel in Plymouth, and the trouble, I think, is that we lack the political will or leadership to make it a reality.”
