Free bus pass 'helps keep people healthy'

22 September Daily Telegraph

Having a free bus pass could help you live longer because it encourages you to get more exercise, a study has found.People who claim their free bus pass after the age of 60 are more active when they leave the house, enabling them to stay fitter than people who use their cars to get around.

Walking or cycling to and from the bus stop every day can help maintain people's physical and mental health in their later years and lower the risk of injury or illnesses like heart disease, researchers explained.

The new study of data from the UK National Travel Survey found that over-60s who hold a free bus pass were more likely to use "active" modes of travel such as walking, cycling or catching the bus.

Researchers studied information on 17,000 people who answered a questionnaire about their means of travel and compiled a one-week "travel diary" at some point between 2005 the year before free bus passes for everyone over 60 were introduced and 2008.

Bus pass holders were almost four times more likely to undertake any "active" travel during the week they kept their diary, and were 15 per cent more likely to report walking three or more times per week.Aside from having a bus pass, the other major factor which prevented people from using the bus, walking or using any other form of "active" transport was having a car, the study found.

People living in towns and cities were more likely to use active modes of transport, due to better provision of services, while people in rural areas were more likely to walk frequently.

Previous research has shown that one in five adults in Britain meets the recommended health target of 30 minutes' exercise, five times a week, simply by getting around each day.

Getting 15 minutes of moderate exercise each day has already been shown to lower the risk of early death from any cause in over-60s by 12 per cent.

Sophie Coronini-Cronberg of Imperial College London, who led the new study, said even "incidental" exercise like walking to the bus stop could lower the risk of health problems in older people.

Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, she said: "Remaining physically active is as important in older as in younger adults because it reduces the risk of loss of mobility and muscle strength, falls and fractures, and and promotes social and mental well-being.