Beijing's Public bus service, which can be read in Chinese charcters as: 北京市公共交通汽车, is the among the most extensive, widely used and affordable form of public transportation in urban and suburban areas of the city. In 2011, the city's primary public bus operator, the state-owned Beijing Public Transport Holdings, Ltd., operated 948 bus routes and 28,343 vehicles, which logged 1.753 billion revenue kilometers and delivered 4.888 billion rides.

The Beijing Xianglong Bus Co., Ltd., an independent operator, provided service on two dozen "Yuntong" (运通) bus routes. Bus fares begin at RMB(¥)1.00 and are subject to 60% discount when purchased with the mass transit IC card, Yikatong, which effectively lowers the cost of most bus rides in the city center to ¥Y0.40.

Special Characters Are Markers that Determine the Type of Bus Line.

Here are a few to remember:

·The character 快 (kuài), which means "fast", after a bus route number, indicates express service. For example, Bus No. 104 is a trolleybus. Bus No. 104快 is an express bus that follows the same route but makes fewer stops.

·The character 支(zhī), meaning "branch", after a bus route number, indicates a branch route.

·The character 特 (tè), meaning "special", before a bus route number, denotes double-decker bus routes. Double decker bus routes generally connect tourist attractions. Their number scheme is distinct from other BPT buses, such that Bus 特1 follows a different route than Beijing Bus No. 1.

·The characters 快速公交 (kuàisùu gōngjiāo) designates the BPT's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes.

The Beijing Xianglong Bus Co. Ltd. operates its own bus routes, which carry the prefix 运通 before the route number. Yuntong bus routes are distinct from the more numerous BPT buse routes and the two should not be confused. For example, Beijing Bus No. 110 and运通110 are two distinct bus lines. Yuntong Bus fares vary from ¥1 to ¥5.