Hong Kong bus route numbering

 A sign, seen through a vehicle, with large numbers and text in Chinese and English. The upper portion is yellow; a small section at the bottom is in orange
A bus route sign at the Repulse Bay stop, with both Citybus and NWFB routes shown

In Hong Kong, public bus, public light bus (also known as green minibus) and residential bus routes bear their own route numbers.

Public buses

The numbering systems of public buses can be classified into Hong Kong Island routes, Kowloon and New Territories routes, Lantau Island (New Lantao Bus) routes, MTR Feeder Bus routes, Cross harbour bus routes and Airport and North Lantau external bus routes. Their route numbering systems are independent. For example, there are both route 1, and route 2 on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Lantau Island respectively.

In the past, the air-conditioned bus routes were numbered as 200's (Kowloon and New Territories) and 500's (Hong Kong Island). However, this identification became void after they phased out all the non-aircon buses; and since then bus routes has been playing around with the old numbers.

At one time, there were two "N11" bus routes in Tung Chung, namely, Airport overnight route N11 and Lantau Island overnight route N11. The latter is no longer in service.

The "A" for MTR Buses stands for auxiliary routes, not airport routes.

Public light buses

The numbering systems of public light bus (green minibuses) are classified into Hong Kong Island public light bus routes, Kowloon public light bus routes and New Territories public light bus routes. There are no public light bus in Airport or on Lantau Island. Their route numbering systems are independent too. However, for cross harbour public light bus routes, the route numbers from Hong Kong Island or New Territories are used instead.

Residential buses

Residential bus routes are the routes which are requested to operate by the residents or estates community. At the past, the route numbers are with a suffix "R". The first residential bus route was route 88R from City One Shatin to Kowloon Tong (MTR) (it was then renumbered 62R). From c. 2003, the route numbers have been changed as prefix "HR", "KR", and "NR". They stand for Hong Kong Island residential bus routes, Kowloon residential bus routes and New Territories residential bus routes respectively. There is no residential bus services on Lantau Island (except Discovery Bay) and the Airport.

Route numbering system for public buses

3 digits

Note that xx represents numbers.

Alphabet prefix

Alphabet suffix

Brief list

   Public busesPublic light busesResidential buses
Hong Kong Island Central and Western District, Wan Chai District, Eastern District1-29 (except 4, 6, 7, 9, 14), 80-89, 380-389, 720-729, 780-789, N8-N8X1-69HR36, HR41-77
Southern District4, 6, 7, 9, 14, 30-79, 90-99, 260, 314, 347, 590-599, M47, N72, N90
Kowloon Urban Kowloon1-29, 200-229, 701-702, N2161-85KR21, KR22, KR41, KR42
New Territories (or traveling between Kowloon and New Territories) Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi30-49, 230-249, 848, N237, N24146M, 47M, 80-99, 301-313, 401-410, 481, 482NR30-49, NR301-332, NR401-412
Tuen Mun50-69, 250-269, 868, 869, 506, K51-K76, N260-N26940-49, 140-142NR70-79, NR700-758
Yuen Long30-39, 70-79, 601-611, 616NR90-99, NR901-956
Tai Po70-79, 270-279, 872, K12, K14, K17, K18, N76-N27120-26, 28NR50-59, NR501-528
North District50-59, 501NR10-19, NR101-114
Sha Tin, Ma On Shan80-89, 272A, 272K, 272S, 280-289, 885-891, N28127, 60-69, 801-811NR60-69, NR80-89, NR801-833
Sai Kung, Tseung Kwan O90-99, 290-299, 790-799, 893, N293, N7961-19, 101-111NR20-29, NR201-NR214
Cross harbour bus routes Cross-Harbour Tunnel routes100-199, 301, 305, 336, 802, 811, N11, N118-N182, N368Using numbers for Hong Kong Island or New TerritoriesUsing numbers for Kowloon or New Territories
Eastern Harbour Crossing routes302, 307, 373, 600-699, N619, N680, N691
Western Harbour Crossing routes373A, 900-999, X962, N962, N969
Lantau Island and Airport routes South Lantau routes1, 4, N1//
Ngong Ping (Po Lin Monastery) routes2, 21, 23, 1R//
North Lantau internal routes34, 36, 37, 38, N38//
Serving between North Lantau / Airport and South Lantau3M, 11, A35, N35//
Airport deluxe bus servicesA10, A11, A12, A21, A22, A29, A31, A33, A35, A41, A41P, A43/DB02R
Airport shuttle routesS1, S52, S52P, S56, S56P, S64, S64P//
North Lantau external routesPrefix E, N11-N42A//
North Lantau recreational routesR8, R33, R42//
AsiaWorld-Expo special servicesX1, X11, X21, X22, X33, X35, X41, X48//
Discovery Bay routes//DB00R, DB01P, DB01R, DB02R, DB03R

See also

References

  1. "Route Introduction - Airport". http://www.lwb.hk''. Long Win Bus Co. Ltd. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Cityflyer Route". http://www.nwstbus.com.hk''. Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  3. "Route Introduction - External". http://www.lwb.hk''. Long Win Bus Co. Ltd. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  4. "Route Introduction - Shuttle". http://www.lwb.hk''. Long Win Bus Co. Ltd. Retrieved 28 August 2014.