Shanghai Bus

Shanghai has more than 1000 formal bus lines (including downtown and suburban lines), served by about 20 bus companies — Bashi, Dazhong, Guanzhong and Qiangsheng being the biggest 4 of these.

Naming scheme

Most downtown buses use numbers to specify the lines, while suburban buses and a few downtown bus lines use alphabets.

Numbered Lines

*Line numbers under 200 are conventional buses (常规线). In these buses, lines under 30 (except those starting with 0) are trolleybuses (except 18,21). There are some air-conditioned buses in trolley lines.
*Line numbers between 200 and 299 are mostly run during rush-hours, with some exceptions where those numbers are used for conventional buses.
*Line numbers between 300 and 399 are night buses.
*Line numbers between 400 and 499 are cross-river buses. Though there're many other cross-river bus lines that start with numbers other than 4.
*Line numbers between 500 and 599 are special-line buses (专线车).
*Line numbers between 600 and 699 are special-line buses in Pudong.
*Line numbers between 700 and 799 are suburban conventional lines. Most 7XX bus have at least one terminal beyond Outer Ring Road (A20 Road).
*Line numbers between 800 and 899 are special-line buses. Most of them are mid-size buses, but now they are being replaced with air-conditioned large buses.
*Line numbers between 900 and 999 are special-line buses. Most of them are full-size and air-conditioned.

Alphabet Lines

*Tunnel LinesTunnel Line 1 to 9 (except Tunnel Line 5) runs across the tunnel under Huangpu River. While being the same as 4XX buses, there're many other buses that cross that tunnel while not named as a tunnel line.
*Bridge LinesBridge Lines 1 to 6 run across the bridge over Huangpu River. While being the same as 4XX buses, there's many other buses that cross the bridge while not named as a bridge line.
*Airport LinesAirport Lines 1 to 7 (8 coming soon) connect Pudong Airport to downtown, while Airport Special Line (机场专线) connects Hongqiao Airport to downtown.
*Other LinesThere will be various additional naming schemes in the alphabet lines. Most lines are named as "XY Line", where X and Y indicate the two terminals of this line "e.g.", "莘纪线" (Xin Ji Line) is a bus which runs between Xinzhuang and Jiwang.

Some other lines only indicate one termianl ".e.g.", "宝杨码头专线" (Baoyang Port Special Line) is a bus which runs between Baoyang Port and Shanghai Railway Station.

In the central portion of some suburbs, there are lines with the name format of "XX No. X" line, for example "Songjiang No.1" and "Anting No.1"

Fare

*No. 01 Line ordinary bus has two prices — 1 yuan and 1.8 yuan — while air-conditioned is 2 yuan. The fare for children is 1 yuan.
*Other line numbers under 400, those between 700 and 799, tunnel lines, and bridge lines are ordinary buses charge 1yuan (not more than 13km) or 1.5 (over 13km), and if air-conditioned, 2yuan.
*three-digit Line number starting with 5,6,8,9 use mutil-level prices starting from 1 yuan.
*Some use a single price (单一票价), while some use mutil-level price.

Card

All single price and numbered lines and most multilevel priced lines accept the "Shanghai Public Transportation Card."

External References

* [http://www.shanghaibus.net/ ShanghaiBus.Net - bus photos and information] "(Chinese only)"
* [http://msittig.wubi.org/bus/talk/ Shanghai Bus System Tutorial (for non-Chinese speakers)]
* [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/154729 What Do You Say To A Shanghai TAXI Driver?]
* [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/154843 How Do You Ask For The WAY in Shanghai?]