Want Healthier Seniors? Give Them Bus Passes

Health problems and age go hand in hand. This inevitability is acceptable, but it doesn't have to be such a strong correlation. One universally accepted methos to improving the health of older adults is to get them to be more active. An easy way to do that, apparently, is to give them bus passes. For the older adult population in the United Kingdom, simply having free access to the bus can dramatically improve public health, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

In 2006, a new system was put in place that gives any person 60 and older a bus pass that allows free local travel on public transit. Researchers from Imperial College London found that those with bus passes were much more likely to take frequent walks and to get around by "active travel" – walking, cycling or using public transit. They also found that these increases in active travel cut across social and economic groups.