How to ride Hong Kong buses: KMB, Citybus, fares and Octopus
Buses cover the parts of Hong Kong the MTR never reaches, and on a double-decker you get the best view in the city for the price of a short ride. The system is not complicated once you know four things: which door to use, how to pay, how to signal your stop, and that the route number tells you what kind of bus it is.
1Who runs what
Four operators cover almost every bus you will use:
- KMB — the largest franchise, covering Kowloon and the New Territories, plus cross-harbour routes.
- Citybus — Hong Kong Island, the airport Cityflyer routes and many cross-harbour services.
- Long Win (LWB) — airport and North Lantau routes.
- New Lantao (NLB) — Lantau, including the routes to Ngong Ping and Tai O.
Franchises overlap on cross-harbour routes, so the same journey may be operated by either company. It makes no difference to you: fares and payment are the same.
2Reading a bus stop
Every stop has a pole or shelter listing the routes that serve it, with the destination and the fare for each. Read three things before you board:
- The destination. Route numbers run in both directions — 104 towards Kowloon and 104 towards Hong Kong Island are separate stops on opposite sides of the road.
- The fare band. Some routes charge by section, so the fare shown may be lower if you get off early.
- The route number prefix — see the last section, it tells you what kind of service you are looking at.
3Paying: tap once, on boarding
Board at the front door and pay as you get on. The Octopus reader is by the driver; contactless Visa and Mastercard work on the same reader. If you pay cash, it goes into a sealed box and no change is given — so keep coins or use a card.
Fares run from around HK$4 for a short urban hop to HK$45–50 for the longest cross-district routes. You tap once only. Do not tap again when you get off.
4Getting off at the right stop
Buses do not stop unless someone is waiting or someone has pressed the bell. Press the red bell strip once when your stop is announced, and move towards the middle doors; you exit there.
Stop names appear on a screen near the front, usually alternating English and Chinese, and are also announced. If you are unsure, watch the numbers on the screen against a map app — this is far more reliable than counting stops.
5What the route number tells you
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | Airport bus, with luggage racks | A21 to Hung Hom via Nathan Road |
| E | External route serving the airport area and Tung Chung, slower and cheaper | E11 to Causeway Bay |
| N | Overnight service | N21 after the last airport train |
| R | Recreation, often racecourse or theme park extras | R8 to Disneyland |
| X | Express variant with fewer stops | — |
Three-digit numbers are generally cross-district routes; two-digit numbers are shorter urban ones. It is a rough guide rather than a rule, but it helps when you are scanning a stop list.
6Using the bus with our ETA tool
Hong Kong buses publish live arrival data, which is why waiting at a stop is no longer a guessing game. Our bus ETA tool shows the next arrivals for KMB and Citybus routes at a given stop, so you can decide whether to wait or walk to the MTR.
Two habits make buses much easier: keep an Octopus card funded, and check the direction of travel before crossing to a stop — the same number on the other side of the road goes the other way.
Quick answers
Do Hong Kong bus drivers give change?
No. Cash goes into a sealed box and must be exact. Use an Octopus card or a contactless bank card instead.
Do I tap my card twice, on boarding and alighting?
No. On Hong Kong buses you tap once, when boarding. Tapping again on the way out is unnecessary and can look like a second journey.
Are buses running at night?
Yes. Routes with an N prefix run overnight, including the airport services, though frequencies are lower than during the day.
Can I pay by phone?
Yes, if your phone supports contactless payment through Apple Pay, Google Pay or a similar wallet, and is set up with a Visa or Mastercard.
Where should I sit?
The front row of the upper deck. On routes that cross the harbour or run along the coast it is the cheapest sightseeing in Hong Kong.
Sources: KMB route and fare search · Citybus route information · Transport Department — franchised buses. Last checked 28 October 2026; operators and government departments can change fares and arrangements at any time.