Numbered boarding ticket

On buses where the fare rises with distance, the numbered ticket you take as you board to prove which stop you got on at. When you get off, you look for the column with your number on the fare display inside the bus and pay the amount shown there.

What a numbered boarding ticket is

A numbered boarding ticket is a small slip of paper carrying a number, used on buses where the fare varies with the distance traveled to prove which stop you boarded at. You take one from the dispenser beside the boarding door as you get on, and drop it into the farebox together with your fare as you get off. The number advances at each stop where passengers board, so a glance at it tells the crew and the passenger alike exactly where the journey began. The slip itself is a tiny thing, yet it plays the part of an important certificate underpinning the calculation of the fare.

How to check what you owe

Inside a bus using numbered tickets, a fare display is fitted roughly above the driver's seat. It lists the fare for each ticket number, and the amounts climb as the bus makes its way along. When your stop comes, find the number on the ticket in your hand on the display and pay the sum shown against it. That is all there is to it.

If you are riding with a transit IC card, then instead of taking a ticket you tap the card reader both on boarding and on getting off. Your boarding point is recorded on the card, so the tap as you leave deducts the correct fare automatically. Forget the tap on the way in and the fare cannot be determined when you get off, which makes settling up a slow business, so the one tap as you board is the thing not to overlook.

Flat-fare buses have no numbered tickets

On buses charging a flat fare, where the same amount is paid regardless of distance, as on Toei Bus routes inside Tokyo's 23 wards, numbered tickets do not exist in the first place. There is no need to prove where you boarded. Such buses work on front-door boarding with payment up front, so the transaction is over as you get on.

Which means that whether a ticket dispenser is present or not is a clue for telling which fare system a bus uses. Remember it this way: a bus built for boarding at the rear door and fitted with a dispenser is zone-based with payment on the way out, while one you board at the front door, where the farebox is waiting for you, is flat-fare with payment up front. That is enough to keep you composed on a route you have never taken. On a zone-fare bus, failing to take a ticket can mean being asked for the fare all the way from the start of the route, so whenever you spot a dispenser, be sure to take a slip. The full picture of the payment methods is set out in our article on Toei Bus fares and how to pay.