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Riding the double-decker

Updated Apr 27, 2022

Find out how to board and ride New York City buses, what the fare is, how to find schedules and routes, and more.

About New York City buses

In that location are several kinds of buses in New York City, including:

  • Local buses
  • Express buses, which await like coach buses and run betwixt boroughs. Many operate only during weekday rush hours.
  • Select Bus Service (SBS) buses, which are marked with "SBS+" and are often blue and gilded. Pay the fare for SBS buses before you lath.
  • Limited buses, which look similar to local buses but brand fewer stops. Await for "LTD" on the front of the motorbus.

All metropolis buses are accessible for riders who use a wheelchair. Run across our guide to accessible jitney travel for more than.

Hither are schedules and maps for bus routes.

For existent-fourth dimension service information, maps, schedules, and more, download the MYmta app on your iPhone or Android phone.

Tips for riding

  • Don't block seats or aisles.
  • When your stop is approaching, push one of the tape strips between the windows or a terminate button on one of the take hold of bars.
  • Don't stand up in the stairwell or doorway while the motorbus is moving.
  • Fold strollers before you board and keep them folded during your ride.
  • For assist planning a trip, phone call 511. You can also use your preferred relay service provider or the free 711 relay.

Virtually bus fares

  • Local buses: $2.75 for nigh riders, or a swipe on an Unlimited Ride MetroCard
  • SBS buses: $two.75 for most riders, or a swipe on an Unlimited Ride MetroCard
  • Express buses: $half-dozen.75 for most riders. You can't utilise a regular Unlimited Ride MetroCard on express buses. You tin can only use a vii-day Express Coach Plus MetroCard.

Other fare information

  • People who are 65 or older, or who accept a qualifying disability, are eligible for reduced fare.
  • You can buy a SingleRide ticket for $3. These are simply sold at vending machines.

A bus approaching a stop on a busy street

Means you can pay the fare

Local and express buses

With a MetroCard

  1. Board via the front end door.
  2. Insert your MetroCard into the farebox most the commuter, with the front of the card facing you and the black strip on the right.

With a contactless card or smart device

  1. Board through the front end doors and tap your card or device at the OMNY reader.

With exact change in coins

  1. Board via the front door.
  2. Insert verbal alter into the farebox.

Express buses

With a MetroCard

  1. Board via the forepart door.
  2. Insert your MetroCard into the farebox near the driver, with the front of the card facing you and the black strip on the right.

With a contactless menu or smart device

  1. Lath through the forepart doors and tap your menu or device at the OMNY reader.

Transferring to an limited bus from a local double-decker or the subway but costs the fare divergence.

SBS buses

With a MetroCard

  1. Look for a ticket kiosks on the sidewalk most the bus stop.
  2. Press the start push button and insert your MetroCard as shown on the kiosk.
  3. Accept the paper SBS ticket that the machine prints.

With a contactless card or digital wallet

  1. Skip the sidewalk kiosks and board through any door.
  2. Tap your card or smart device at the OMNY reader.

With verbal change in coins

  1. Look for a sidewalk kiosk that has a slot for coins instead of a MetroCard.
  2. Insert exact alter. (You won't get modify if you overpay.) You can't employ more than 25 coins to pay the fare.
  3. Accept the paper SBS ticket that the car prints.

If the SBS MetroCard Fare Collector auto(southward) at a stop are out of service, delight lath the motorcoach and go a ticket at a MetroCard Fare Collector machine with your MetroCard when you get out the passenger vehicle.

Where the bus stops

Bus stops are marked with a tall, round sign with a bus symbol and route number. (The MTA lingo for these signs is "lollipops.") Some stops as well have bus shelters.

How to board the bus

Stay on the curb until the jitney stops and the doors open.

Some buses "kneel," or tilt down toward the curb, so you tin can board more than hands.

Requesting a stop during belatedly nights

From x p.m. to 5 a.thou., y'all can inquire your bus operator to let yous off at locations that aren't bus stops. They'll find a rubber identify along the route to terminate the bus.

You tin simply request stops on local and express bus routes. You cannot request a stop on limited-cease passenger vehicle service, Select Charabanc Service, the nonstop portion of limited bus service, or shuttle bus service.

A blue, white, and red sign with a white icon on top and the "S53" down below.

Bus terminate signs accept road numbers printed on them, with a autobus icon printed in a circle on meridian.

People line up to board a bus at a bus stop in the Bronx. The blue and white bus stop sign is visible in the foreground, with a bus shelter visible in the background.

Wait for omnibus stop signs to know where to board. Some stops have bus shelters and some don't.

How to use your MetroCard on a bus

  • Concord your MetroCard with the logo on the front end facing yous, with the black magnetic strip on the correct side.
  • Insert your card into the farebox. Your fare will be deducted automatically and your carte will popular back out.

A MetroCard being inserted into a bus farebox, with the magnetic strip visible on the right side of the card.

Insert your MetroCard with the logo facing you and the magnetic strip on the front right side of the card.

A woman wearing a coat and hat smiles at a bus operator as she inserts her MetroCard into the farebox at the front of a bus.

The farebox is directly in front of you as you board.

How to transfer

With a MetroCard

Y'all can transfer for free from one local bus route to another local bus road or whatever subway train. (The transfer gets encoded on your MetroCard. You'll swipe information technology again, but you won't be charged.) Transfers are good within two hours of when you paid the fare.

Using an OMNY reader

You don't need a paper ticket to transfer to another bus. Utilize the same carte du jour or device throughout your journey and transfers will exist practical automatically. OMNY is available on all MTA-operated local, limited, and Select Bus Service routes in New York City, as well as express buses.

With verbal change

If y'all paid in coins, you tin can transfer from a local bus on one route to a local omnibus on another route, if the routes intersect, within two hours of paying the fare. Y'all do this by showing a printed transfer. Inquire the bus operator for a transfer if yous need one.

Other tips

  • Transferring to an express bus from a local double-decker or the subway only costs the fare deviation.
  • If you transfer from a local to a Select Bus Service autobus, make sure to become an SBS ticket from a sidewalk kiosk before you board.

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