Articles

How to ride a Toei bus: from boarding to getting off

A guide to riding Toei buses that makes sense even on your first trip. Built around the front-door boarding and pay-as-you-board system used inside Tokyo's 23 wards, it walks through checking the boarding point, getting on, paying, the stop request button and how to get off.

Last updated: 2026-09-03

How to find your boarding point - why the same bus stop name can mean different places

Why do bus stops that share a name have their boarding points split across the road or set some distance apart? Here is why boarding points are divided, and how to find yours in a place you have never been to before.

Last updated: 2026-08-28

How to read a bus timetable - weekday, Saturday and holiday schedules, and how to check them

A bus timetable is a completely different document on weekdays, on Saturdays and on Sundays and holidays. Here is how to tell the types of schedule apart, how public holidays and the Obon and New Year periods are handled, and which easy-to-miss notes to look out for.

Last updated: 2026-09-08

How to Check the First and Last Bus - Times That Shift with the Day of the Week

First and last bus times differ substantially between the weekday, Saturday and holiday schedules. Here is how to look them up reliably, along with practical precautions that keep you from missing your bus.

Last updated: 2026-08-25

Riding the Bus in Later Life - Tips for Traveling with Confidence, and the Silver Pass

Tips that let older passengers use the local bus with confidence, set out in order from the preparations before you leave to the moment you step off. It also covers the essentials of the Tokyo Silver Pass scheme, as far as they can be confirmed in the official guidance.

Last updated: 2026-09-07

How to Read a Bus Destination Sign - Route Number and Destination, Every Time

How to read the destination signs shown on the front and side of a bus. Once you are in the habit of checking the route number and the destination as a pair, you can avoid boarding the wrong bus even when different services pull into the same boarding point.

Last updated: 2026-08-26

Bus Wisdom for Daily Life - Finding a Seat at the Origin Stop, and Routes That Need No Timetable

A collection of practical tips drawn from the actual Toei Bus timetable to make everyday journeys a little easier. Learn how to find the stops where buses begin their runs, how many routes reach a hospital or a park without a change, which services run so often that you can ignore the timetable, and how much journey times shift through the day.

Last updated: 2026-08-12

How to Outsmart a Packed Bus - Four Techniques for Dodging the Crush

Squeezing onto a packed bus does not have to be part of your daily routine. From spotting the emptier bus running right behind a full one, to boarding where the route begins, to timing your trip around the peaks in the schedule, here are four techniques you can start using today.

Last updated: 2026-09-05

Riding a Toei bus with a stroller: when you can leave it unfolded

When can you take a stroller onto a Toei bus unfolded? Official guidance as of September 2026 on the green and blue belts, single versus double strollers, and when folding is asked for.

Last updated: 2026-09-08

What you can bring on a Toei bus: suitcases, bikes and pets

A scene-by-scene guide to what you may bring on a Toei bus: the size and weight limits, suitcases, bicycles, instruments and pets, as of September 2026.

Last updated: 2026-09-09

Left Something on a Toei Bus - Lost and Found, Step by Step

What to do if you leave something on a Toei Bus, following the transport bureau's guidance: what to note down, where items go as days pass, and how to ask and collect.

Last updated: 2026-09-10

Does Toei Bus Issue a Delay Certificate? What to Do Instead

Can you get a delay certificate when a Toei bus runs late? As of September 2026 the Bureau's website has no page about one for buses. What differs from rail, and what to do instead.

Last updated: 2026-09-12

Tokyo bus etiquette: priority seats, phones, food, stop button

How to behave on a Toei bus, along the lines the Bureau of Transportation actually asks of its passengers: priority seats, phones, food and the stop button.

Last updated: 2026-09-15

Riding a Toei bus in a wheelchair: your questions answered

What to know before riding a Toei bus in a wheelchair, from the Bureau of Transportation's own guidance: calling ahead, securing on board, fare discounts and how to ask for help.

Last updated: 2026-09-16

Why Buses Run Late - The Mechanics of Delay, Beyond Traffic Jams

Why does a bus sometimes fail to turn up when the timetable says it will? A plain-language look at the structural reasons buses run late, from road congestion and the time boarding takes to the luck of the traffic lights, plus how bus bunching comes about.

Last updated: 2026-08-12

How a bus location system works - from a bus's position to the guidance you see

Why can a display at the bus stop, or the phone in your hand, tell you how many minutes until the bus arrives? Here is a plain-language explanation of the bus location system working behind the scenes, following the path from measuring a position through to the guidance you see.

Last updated: 2026-09-06

The Toei Bus network in numbers: from daily trips to the bus that ran one day a year

A read that takes in a day on the Toei Bus network through numbers and charts. The routes with the most trips, the longest route of all, the hours between the first and the last bus, timetables that change with the day of the week, and even a bus that ran on a single day of the year: here is the unexpected picture that the real timetable figures paint.

Last updated: 2026-09-01

Toei Bus on the map - two separate worlds, and stops below sea level

A look at the Toei Bus network from a map's point of view. The network turns out to split into two worlds that never touch, one journey needs seven buses if you travel by bus alone, some stops sit below sea level, and a handful of Toei Bus stops stand in Saitama Prefecture. Here is the surprising shape a map reveals.

Last updated: 2026-09-05

Bus Stops Enjoyed for Their Names - From a Hard-to-Read Quiz to the 45 Stops That Lose You at Shiritori

An article that lingers on nothing but the names of Toei Bus stops. A quiz of names that look readable until you try, the stops with a single character for a name, the complete absence of dogs and cats, the stops that make you lose at the word game shiritori, and where the block numbers climb all the way to 9-chōme: discoveries gathered from the world of bus stop names.

Last updated: 2026-09-07

Do Toei Buses Stop for a Typhoon - How Suspensions Are Announced

Will Toei buses run on a typhoon day? In October 2019 every route was announced the day before as suspended from 14:00. Where to check, and what to do.

Last updated: 2026-09-13

What is a Toei Bus fuel cell bus - hydrogen power and EV buses

How a fuel cell bus turns hydrogen into electricity, how Toei Bus came to run 80 of them as of April 1, 2025, and how they differ from an EV bus.

Last updated: 2026-09-14

Toei Bus fares and how to pay: IC cards, cash and child fares

How much does a Toei bus cost, and how do you pay? Here are the adult and child fares as of September 2026, the difference between IC cards and cash, and how paying on board works, including the points to watch, all based on official information.

Last updated: 2026-09-04

Toei Bus one-day pass guide - types, prices, and when it pays off

A guide to the one-day pass that lets you ride Toei buses as many times as you like in a day, and to the Toei Marugoto Kippu, which makes the whole Toei transport network unlimited. It covers the prices as of September 2026, where to buy each pass, and how many rides it takes to come out ahead.

Last updated: 2026-09-04

Toei Bus commuter pass: prices, where to buy, break-even

A Toei Bus commuter pass names no route section: it lets you ride Toei buses freely across Tokyo's 23 wards. Here are the prices as of September 2026, how many rides it takes to break even, where each type of pass is sold, and how refunds are calculated.

Last updated: 2026-09-07

Changing Toei buses: no transfer discount, so pick by ride count

What happens to your fare when you change from one Toei bus to another? Here is why the transfer discount ended, and how to choose the cheapest way to pay.

Last updated: 2026-09-11