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

The basic rule: board at the front, pay as you get on

Riding a Toei bus is, in short, very simple. On routes inside Tokyo's 23 wards you board through the front door, pay the fare as you board, and get off through the rear door. As of August 2026, the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation applies this front-door, pay-on-boarding system to Toei buses throughout the 23 wards. Because routes inside the wards charge a flat fare regardless of how far you ride, there is no need to buy a ticket to the stop where you will get off, or to take a numbered ticket, as you would on the trains.

That leaves just two things to remember: pay at the front door as you board, and press the stop request button and get off through the rear door. This article follows the whole sequence in order, from arriving at the bus stop to stepping off the bus. Feel free to read only the parts where buses work differently from trains.

Before you board: check the boarding point and the destination

Two things are worth checking before you get on a bus: the boarding point and the destination. Each bus stop has a sign known as a bus stop pole, which lists the numbers of the routes that call there, their destinations and the timetable. Even at stops with the same name, the boarding points are often split by direction or by route, sitting on the opposite side of the road or a little way off, so in an unfamiliar place the sure approach is to check not only that the name of the stop matches, but that this is the boarding point for the direction you want. Our guide to finding the right boarding point at a bus stop explains the tricks in detail.

When a bus arrives, look at the destination display on the front of the bus and beside the boarding door, and confirm that the route number and destination are the ones you want before you get on. Several routes may serve the same boarding point, so this small extra step heads off almost every case of catching the wrong bus. Note too that even under one route number, some services run only as far as a stop partway along, and some are depot runs on their way back to the garage. Reading the destination place name, not just the number, is the shortest path to arriving where you meant to go.

Boarding: tap your IC card, or put cash in the farebox

On routes inside the 23 wards you board through the front door and pay the fare there and then. There are two main ways to pay.

• Transit IC card: tap the card or your smartphone on the reader at the boarding door. It pays to check before you board that the balance will cover the fare.
• Cash: put the fare into the farebox beside the driver's seat. According to the guidance current in August 2026, if you put in more than the fare, the machine settles it automatically and returns change. Only ¥1,000 notes can be used, however, and older currency such as the former ¥500 coin may not be readable by the machine.

When you are paying for several people at once, for a family for instance, the guidance is to tell the driver how many are riding (and how many are adults and how many children) before you pay. If digging out coins looks likely to slow you down, having them out of your wallet before you board keeps things moving. For the actual fare amounts and the discounts available, see Toei Bus fares and how to pay.

During the ride: taking a seat and listening for announcements

Once aboard, take a seat if one is free. If you have to stand, hold firmly on to a strap or a handrail. Buses can slow down at unexpected moments for traffic lights or congestion, so standing with a bag in each hand is dangerous. Avoid moving between seats while the bus is running, too. If you are with a small child, riding seated wherever possible is the reassuring choice, so that you can steady the child when the bus sways.

The next stop is announced both on the display inside the bus and by voice announcement. On a route you do not know, if you are unsure which stop is yours, a word to the driver as you board, such as "I'd like to get off at ...", puts your mind at rest. Glance at the display from time to time, and start getting ready once the bus has passed the stop before yours; that way you never have to rush.

You will also hear announcements and see notices about conduct on board, including requests to switch off mobile phones near the priority seats. A bus puts passengers and driver much closer together than a train does. Keep half an ear on the announcements, and enjoy the view at your leisure.

Getting off: press the stop button and use the rear door

As your stop approaches and the monitor or the voice announcement calls it, press the stop request button near your seat to let the driver know. The buttons are dotted around the interior, on window pillars and handrails, so that one is within reach of every seat. If someone has already pressed one, there is no need to press again. If you miss your chance to press, do not leap to your feet; getting off at the next stop and walking back is the safer course.

The important thing here is to stay in your seat until the bus has come to a complete stop. Walking down the aisle while the bus is moving risks a fall. Once the bus has stopped and the doors are open, you get off through the rear door on routes inside the 23 wards. The fare was settled when you boarded, so there is nothing to do on the way out.

In the Tama area it is the reverse: board at the rear, pay as you get off

On the same Toei Bus network, routes in the Tama area work the other way around. Under the official guidance as of August 2026, the Tama area uses rear-door boarding with payment on the way out: you board through the rear door, take a numbered boarding ticket, and pay the fare at the front door as you get off. Coins and ¥1,000 notes can be changed at the farebox, according to the guidance.

Under either system, pressing the stop request button to signal that you want to get off is the same. If in doubt, follow what the passengers ahead of you are doing and you will not go far wrong.

Now that you know how to ride, look up the times and the boarding point

Riding itself is something your body remembers after a single trip. All that is left is the homework of when the bus comes and where to catch it, and once you have that, Toei buses become a dependable ally in getting around day to day. Before you set out, use how to read a bus timetable to look up departure times and how to find the boarding point to work out where to wait. On your first trip, allow yourself plenty of time and head for the stop aiming for the service before the one you need.

Buses are easily affected by road conditions, and they do not always come when the timetable says. That is exactly when arrival information, telling you where a bus is right now, earns its keep. Once you are comfortable with the mechanics of riding, add the habit of checking the service situation before you head out to wait, and much of the anxiety of waiting falls away.

The fares and charges given in this article are those current at the time of writing and do not reflect any later revisions.