The initial findings of an NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme funded study into the impact of free bus travel published in Social Science & Medicine, suggests that when the free travel is perceived to have been earned, such as through tax and national insurance contributions, there was an improved sense of self-worth. The study, led by Dr Judith Green of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has looked at the two groups currently receiving free travel in London – those aged 12-18 and the over-60s.