Flat fare
What a flat fare is
A flat fare is a system in which one ride costs the same amount whether you travel a single stop or stay on to the end of the line. Nothing has to be calculated from where you got on and where you get off, so once you have paid on boarding you simply step off at whichever stop you like. Toei Bus and most other local buses running inside Tokyo's 23 wards use this system.
On flat-fare routes the payment is finished the moment you board, so they are generally combined with front-door boarding and paying up front. Get on through the front door, drop cash into the farebox or tap a transit IC card, and that is all there is to it.
What riders gain from it
Once you know a route charges a flat fare, the money you need ready is the same every time. There is no guessing how much small change to bring, and with a transit IC card you can ride without a second thought as long as the balance holds. The whole task of looking up at the fare board to find the price for your own section simply disappears.
The other notable feature is that the longer you ride, the better the value. Because distance does not change the fare, riding all the way to a far-off stop still costs one fare. That makes it easy to go a little further for shopping or a hospital visit without worrying about the cost. Fare levels are revised from time to time, so checking the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation's official site before you head out is the surest approach.
How it differs from numbered-ticket buses
The counterpart to a flat fare is the distance-based zone system, where the amount changes according to how far you ride. On zone-fare buses you take a numbered boarding ticket as you get on to show where you started, then match its number against the fare display and pay when you get off. The doors are reversed too: boarding at the rear and getting off at the front is the usual pattern.
Even inside Tokyo, some routes in the Tama area or ones crossing into neighboring prefectures charge by zone. When you board a bus while traveling or in an unfamiliar area, check two things first, whether people get on at the front or the rear and whether there is a ticket dispenser, and you will know immediately which system is in use. Our article on Toei Bus fares and how to pay explains the procedure in full.