Toei Bus

An Isuzu Erga non-step bus on route 上23 in November 2022.
Founded	1923 (as Tokyo City Bus)
Locale	Metropolitan Tokyo region
Service area	Tokyo, Japan
Service type	Bus
Routes	138
Stops	1,639
Stations	12 depots, 7 branch offices
Fleet	1,467 buses
Fuel type	Diesel fuel, compressed natural gas
Operator	Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Tokyo metropolitan government)
Website	English site

The Toei Bus (都営バス, Toei Basu) is a bus service operated by the Bus Service Division, the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (東京都交通局, Tōkyō-to Kōtsū-kyoku). It is also called To Bus (都バス, Tobasu).

The bureau mainly operates bus routes in the special wards of Tokyo, as well as those in the city of Ōme in the western Tama Area. It creates a virtual monopoly of bus routes in the central Tokyo (the area roughly within Yamanote Line loop), while those in other parts of Tokyo Metropolis and the Greater Tokyo Area are operated by many different companies. TMBT also operates a few other bus services, such as chartered bus, school bus, and community bus. Tokyo is one of the only two Japanese prefectures that directly operate bus routes, the other being Nagasaki Ken-ei Bus by the Transportation Bureau of Nagasaki Prefecture.

As of February 2022, there are about 200 routes with the total length of 1,103 km (685 mi). If the sections shared by multiple routes are counted once, the length is 779 km (484 mi). 1,467 bus vehicles serve 1,639 bus stops.^[1]

Toei Bus has an official mascot called Minkuru (みんくる), a bug-like personification of a bus vehicle.

When Tokyo Shiden (Tokyo City Streetcar, the current Tokyo Toden) lines were damaged by the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, Tokyo City Electricity Bureau started 2 bus routes, originally as an emergency measure. They became the origin of Tokyo City Bus. In 1942, Tokyo City bought over 8 rivaling bus companies, including Tokyo Bus (東京乗合自動車, Tokyo Noriai Jidōsha) of Tokyo Underground Railway (東京地下鉄道), Tokyo Circular Bus (東京環状乗合自動車, Tokyo Kanjō Noriai Jidōsha) of Tokyo Rapid Railway (東京高速鉄道), and others. In 1943, TCEB changed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as the city changed to the metropolis.

Right after the World War II, there were only 12 routes still in operation. 400 surplus buses from U.S. force were sold to TMBT, helping its recovery. In 1948, its tourist bus division was assigned to Hato Bus (はとバス), which now dominates tourist bus services in Tokyo. Toei Bus had a good financial condition in 1950s, but went into red from 1961. After 1963, many streetcar lines were closed, and new bus routes started their services as substitutes, making the backbone of the current network. In 1975, the bureau succeeded the routes in Ōme from Seibu Bus.

Toei Bus had the highest ridership in 1972 fiscal year, with the average of 1,298,912 daily passengers. With the growth of subway network, the ridership is continuously decreasing. It had the average of 568,863 daily passengers in 2005 fiscal year.^[1]

Toei Bus is operated with 12 bus depots and 7 branch offices. Latin letters are assigned to each depot/branch for vehicle identification and such.

• Edogawa Bus Depot (江戸川自動車営業所): V; Nakakasai, Edogawa.
  • Rinkai Branch Office (臨海支所): R; Rinkai, Edogawa.
• Fukagawa Bus Depot (深川自動車営業所): S; Shinonome, Kōtō.
• Kita Bus Depot (北自動車営業所): N; Kamiya, Kita.
  • Nerima Branch Office (練馬支所): F; Toyotamakami, Nerima.
• Kōtō Bus Depot (江東自動車営業所): L; Kōtōbashi, Sumida.
• Minami-Senju Bus Depot (南千住自動車営業所): K; Minamisenju, Arakawa.
  • Aoto Branch Office (青戸支所): Z; Shiratori, Katsushika.
  • Aoto Garage (青戸分駐所): K; Shiratori, Katsushika.
• Otakibashi Bus Depot (小滝橋自動車営業所): E; Higashinakano, Nakano.
• Ōtsuka Bus Depot (大塚自動車営業所): G; Ōtsuka, Bunkyō.
• Senju Bus Depot (千住自動車営業所): H; Umeda, Adachi.
• Shibuya Bus Depot (渋谷自動車営業所): B; Higashi, Shibuya
  • Shinjuku Branch Office (新宿分駐所): B; Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku.
• Shinagawa Bus Depot (品川自動車営業所): A; Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa.
  • Kōnan Branch Office (港南支所): Y; Kōnan, Minato.
• Sugamo Bus Depot (巣鴨自動車営業所): P; Sugamo, Toshima.
• Waseda Bus Depot (早稲田自動車営業所): T; Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku.
  • Ōme Branch Office (青梅支所): W; Morishitachō, Ōme.
  • Suginami Branch Office (杉並支所): D; Umesato, Suginami.

Most routes are designated by one or two kanji followed by a two-digit number. Some routes have Latin alphabets instead of kanji. A number may be followed by a celestial stem (kō, otsu, etc., equivalent to abc or 123). The term orikaeshi is equivalent to the European bis. "Readings" provided here are tentative. There are no widely accepted English names of the routes. TMBT uses the kanji names even in English texts, like "有30 starts from Kameari-eki Kitaguchi".^[1]

All routes are equipped with accessibility feature, such as non-step buses with kneeling function. ^[2]

There are also some non-regular routes, including those for Tokyo Big Sight, the National Theatre of Japan, Edogawa Kyōtei Course, the Tokyo Bay Great Fireworks, and the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival.

There are 1,467 buses used by TMBT. These are manufactured by Isuzu Motors, Hino Motors, Nissan Diesel, Mitsubishi Fusō and Volgren (imported from Australia). The bureau is keen on introducing vehicles with accessibility feature, such as non-step buses. As of April 2006, there are 854 non-step buses, or 58% of its entire fleet.^[1] The bureau also employs relatively many eco-friendly vehicles as Japanese bus operator, including 157 natural gas buses.

• 
  Isuzu Erga CNG PJ-LV834L1
• 
  Hino Blue Ribbon KC-HU2MLCA
• 
  Nissan Diesel Space Runner RA PKG-RA274KAN
• 
  Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star KL-MP37JK
• 
  Volgren Optimus bodied Scania N280UB

For the routes in the special wards of Tokyo, the adult fares are as follows, regardless of the distance. Riders get on a bus from a front door, and get off from a rear door.

• Regular routes: ¥210
• Gaku Bus: ¥180

The routes designated with the kanji 学 (gaku). They mainly transport college students.

• Shuttle Bus (C-H 01): ¥190
• Access Line Bus (AL 01): ¥100
• Midnight 25: ¥420

Night bus routes, designated with the kanji 深夜 (shin'ya "midnight").

For the routes in Ōme, the fare varies depending on the distance. Riders get on a bus from a rear door, and get off from a front door.

All the Toei Bus cars accept Common Bus Card, a magnetic fare collection card, as well as PASMO and Suica, contactless smart cards.

• List of bus operating companies in Japan
• Transportation in Greater Tokyo

• (in English and Japanese) Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation official website