Keito (bus route)

The unit of a route, describing the course a bus travels. A route number or name is given to each combination of starting point, terminus and roads taken along the way. It is the most basic clue there is for telling which bus is the one to board.

What keito means

A keito is the unit of a route, describing the course along which a bus travels. Each combination of which stop it starts from, which roads it follows and how far it goes is distinguished as one keito, and each is given a route number or a route name. The idea corresponds to a railway line, and on the Toei Bus network names that pair a kanji character with a number, as in 都01 (To-01), are in wide use.

A single stop may be served by several routes, and there are routes that travel the same road together for part of the way before dividing off in separate directions further on. That is exactly why the route matters as the mark by which you tell buses apart.

Knowing the route means boarding the wrong bus less often

At a bus stop in front of a station, buses of one route after another come rolling in. Rely on the place name of the destination alone and you can end up on a bus that turns off in another direction partway along, or on one that takes the long way round. Learn the single number of the route you ride and you can judge "is this my bus?" the instant you see the display on an approaching bus.

Timetables, too, are generally set out route by route. Approach information at stops is often presented with the route as its unit as well, so knowing the route number makes you far quicker at reading the guidance. If you use buses as part of daily life, remembering them by route number alongside the place name of the destination is the reliable way.

Each operator has its own rules for assigning route numbers, and Toei Bus uses names such as 都01 (To-01) and 王40 (O-40), which pair the first character of a place name connected with the route with a number. Learn what the leading characters mean and you can make a rough guess at the area a route runs through even on first sight of it, which adds to the pleasure of reading a route map.

How this relates to boarding points and destination signs

Whereas keito is the name of a course, a boarding point refers to the place where you actually wait for the bus. Even on one and the same route, the position you board from changes with the direction: the boarding point for the outward trip and the one for the return may be on opposite sides of the road. And because trips that finish at a stop partway along can run under the same route number, it is reassuring to confirm the terminus on the destination sign before you board. How to read the displays is covered in detail in our article on how to read bus destination signs.