NYC express buses: how they work

Updated October 29, 2026

Express buses give many outer-borough neighborhoods a one-seat ride to Midtown or Lower Manhattan. They cost more than a regular bus. Here's how the fare, transfers and schedules work, and which routes go where.

How an express route works

Every express trip has two halves. Near home, the bus picks people up along a handful of neighborhood streets. Then it runs nonstop to Manhattan, where it makes a second set of stops. Going home, the order flips. The buses look like coaches rather than regular city buses.

The fare and how to pay

As of October 2026, an express ride costs $7.25, compared with $3 on the subway and local buses (see the MTA's fare page).

  • Tap at the front door. Use a contactless card, phone, smartwatch or OMNY card on the reader as you board.
  • Don't count on cash. The MTA lists cash as accepted on local, limited, rush and Select Bus Service buses, and express buses aren't on that list.
  • Leftover MetroCards. You haven't been able to buy or refill a MetroCard since January 1, 2026, but the MTA says you can still spend down the value on a valid card.
  • Weekly cap. Tap the same card or device every time and your subway, local bus and express bus fares stop at $67 in a 7-day period. Ten rides (a five-day round-trip commute) would cost $72.50, so daily commuters hit the cap.
  • Reduced fare. Seniors and riders with qualifying disabilities enrolled in the MTA's Reduced-Fare program pay $3.60, but only off-peak.
  • Babies. A child under 2 sitting on a paying adult's lap rides free.

Transfers

Transfers last two hours from when you first pay. Tap the same card or device on every leg to get them.

  • Express bus to a local bus or the subway: free.
  • Local bus or subway to an express bus: you pay the difference between the two fares, which is $4.25 at full fare.
  • Express bus to another express route: free, as long as it's a different route. The transfer can't be used on the same route again in either direction.

The fine print is in the MTA's passenger tariff. Our guide to paying the fare covers tapping and fare caps in more detail.

When express buses run

Check the schedule before you rely on an express bus. The MTA notes that many express routes run only during weekday rush hours. The QM63, QM64 and QM68 are examples: when the MTA gave them their current names in June 2025, it listed all three as weekday-only, toward Manhattan in the morning and back home in the afternoon and early evening. Timetables are on mta.info.

The route families

The letters in front of the number tell you which borough a route serves. Each route below links to its page here, with live bus locations and the full stop list.

BM and X: Brooklyn

BM1 (Mill Basin), BM2 (Canarsie/Spring Creek), BM3 (Sheepshead Bay) and BM4 (Gerritsen Beach) serve both Lower Manhattan and Midtown. BM5 (Spring Creek) goes to Midtown.

In southwest Brooklyn, X27 (Bay Ridge) and X28 (Sea Gate/Bensonhurst) serve Lower Manhattan and Midtown, while X37 (Bay Ridge) and X38 (Sea Gate/Bensonhurst) are Midtown routes.

BxM: the Bronx

  • From Riverdale: BxM1 (East Midtown), BxM2 (West Midtown) and BxM18 (Lower Manhattan).
  • To Midtown: BxM3 (Yonkers), BxM4 (Woodlawn), BxM6 (Parkchester), BxM7 (Co-op City), BxM8 (Pelham Bay/City Island), BxM9 (Throgs Neck), BxM10 (Williamsbridge/Morris Park) and BxM11 (Wakefield).

QM: Queens

Queens has 30 express routes. Five go to Lower Manhattan: QM7 (Fresh Meadows), QM8 (Glen Oaks), QM11 (Forest Hills), QM25 (Glendale) and QM65 (Laurelton/Rochdale). The other 25 go to Midtown: QM1, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, QM10, QM12, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM20, QM21, QM24, QM31, QM32, QM34, QM35, QM36, QM40, QM42, QM44, QM63, QM64 and QM68.

Several neighborhoods have a pair of Midtown routes, one described by the MTA as running via Sixth Avenue and the other via Third Avenue: Fresh Meadows (QM1, QM31), Bay Terrace (QM2, QM32), Electchester (QM4, QM44), Glen Oaks (QM5, QM35), Lake Success (QM6, QM36), Lefrak City (QM10, QM40) and Forest Hills (QM12, QM42). Compare stop lists to see which leaves you closer to work. Several Queens routes changed in 2025; our redesigns guide explains.

SIM: Staten Island

Staten Island has 27 express routes. Here they are, grouped by their Staten Island end:

In Manhattan, some serve Lower Manhattan, some Midtown and some Greenwich Village. The four routes ending in C stop in all three areas.

Practical tips

  • Your stop home may be on a different street. Many routes enter Manhattan on one set of streets and leave on another. The X27, for example, heads to Midtown via Church Street, Sixth Avenue and Madison Avenue, but picks up riders for Bay Ridge on Fifth Avenue and Broadway.
  • Read the sign. Manhattan express stops are often shared by several routes, so check for your route number on the stop sign and the bus.
  • Late-night drop-offs. Between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., you can ask the driver to let you off between stops on the local part of the route, though not on the nonstop stretch.

To see where your bus is right now, open its route page above or browse all express routes. Detours and schedule changes show up on our alerts page, and our stop codes guide shows how to look up a single stop.

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