Hundreds of school children have flocked to take part in a scheme that offers rewards for getting off the bus and on to the pavement.
In a bid to reduce crowding on buses in Wimbledon town centre, pupils were offered vouchers to walk to school instead of using public transport in the area.
Prizes on offer included free breakfasts, £5 Topshop vouchers and adult and child cinema tickets. The scheme ran at Ursuline and Ricards Lodge secondary schools - and at Ricards Lodge alone 170 pupils were taking part by the end of the summer term.
Pupils taking part in Wimbledon Smarter Travel Initiative had special cards validated at different points in the town centre to prove they were making their journey on foot.
The scheme was launched in April by Merton police and Transport for London.
A police spokesman said: “It was found that students were using their Oyster cards to travel short distances thus adding to the congestion.”
He said TfL would be reviewing the effectiveness of the scheme in the next few weeks.
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