The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) operates 80 express bus routes in New York City, United States. Express routes operated by MTA Bus Company are assigned multi-borough (BM, BxM, QM) prefixes. MTA New York City Bus operates seven of the express routes in Brooklyn and Queens, which are prefixed with the letter X, as well as all express routes in Staten Island, which are prefixed with the letters SIM.

The unidirectional fare, payable with MetroCard or OMNY, a contactless payment system which will replace the MetroCard by 2024, is $7. Discount fare media is available. Except for the ad hoc X80 service, coins are not accepted on express buses.

Express buses operate using over-the-road diesel-powered, 45-ft-long coaches, from Motor Coach Industries and Prevost Car. For more information, visit the fleet page.

Manhattan to Staten Island

Most routes travel to and from Staten Island via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Gowanus Expressway, and Hugh L. Carey Tunnel into Lower Manhattan. Some routes operate through New Jersey via the Goethals Bridge, New Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey Route 495, and Lincoln Tunnel to directly serve Midtown Manhattan.

On August 19, 2018, all of the Staten Island-Manhattan express bus routes were redesigned to offer simpler and direct routes, fewer stops to speed up the trips, and additional service for off-peak hours and weekends. The new routes originally planned consists of 21 express routes: 11 traveling to Midtown, 8 traveling to Downtown and 2 traveling to Greenwich Village via Battery Park City. The previously used "X" routes have been dropped in favor of "SIM," or Staten Island to Manhattan, routes. This was the result of the two-year Staten Island Bus Study conducted by MTA, launched in 2015, which analyzed trip performance data, ridership profiles and extensive customer input, to determine the most effective way to reconfigure the network.^[1][2]

All routes are operated by New York City Transit. All routes run during rush hours in the peak direction. In addition, the SIM1C, SIM3C, SIM4C and SIM33C provide off-peak weekday and weekend service, and the SIM1C provides overnight service. These four -C routes cover most stops in Manhattan served by other routes during peak hours.

History and notes

Manhattan to Brooklyn

X- routes are operated by New York City Transit, while BM-routes are operated by MTA Bus Company. All routes operate nonstop between Brooklyn and Manhattan via the Gowanus Expressway or Prospect Expressway to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, with some routes continuing non-stop via the FDR Drive to reach Midtown. The exception to this is the BM5, which also makes stops in Queens and uses Woodhaven Boulevard, the Long Island Expressway and Queens Midtown Tunnel to reach Midtown.