In 2015, the entire network consisted of 876 routes with a fleet of 24,347 buses and trolleybuses carried 3.98 billion passengers annually.

[7] The bus fare begins at RMB(¥)2.00 and are subject to a 50 percent discount when purchased with the mass transit IC card, Yikatong, using the QR-code of Alipay and the official app of the Beijing Public Transport or the transit card from Apple's Wallet, which effectively lowers the cost all buses to ¥1.00.

[9] Riders carrying bulky luggage that take up the space of another passenger will have to purchase a second bus fare.

[10] Bearers of Retired Cadres' Honorary Certificates and blind individuals can also ride public buses for free.

Riders with the student metro card enjoy 75% discount off the cash fare, the starting becomes ¥0.50 per ride.

The Yikatong card can be purchased or have value added at any Beijing Subway station or at any of 89 bus stops around the city.

Other character designations in line numbers: The BPT provides inquiry services via both its official website and the 96166 telephone helpline.

As of August 17, 2013, free wi-fi service is available on 5,823 buses on 248 bus routes, mostly inside the Third Ring Road.

[16] Beijing has four bus rapid transit lines intended to complement its extensive subway system and a fifth one under construction on Guangqu Road.

The entire 3rd Ring Road also has curbside bus lanes which were criticized for poor design due to conflicts with traffic using on and off ramps.

Line BRT 2 opened on July 31, 2008 and connects Chaoyangmen to Yangzha (near Guǎnzhuang station, in Chaoyang District) in the east.

[23] Line BRT 3 opened on July 20, 2008 and connects Andingmen to Hongfuyuanxiaoqu West (in Changping District) in the north.

The line is 25.5 km long with 19 stations, but only the middle section of the routes has dedicated BRT lanes.

Public bus service in Beijing dates to 1921 when the Beiyang Government established a trolley company in the city.

[25] In January 1949, after the capture of Beiping by the People's Liberation Army in the Beiping-Tianjin Campaign, there were only 103 trams and 61 buses in the city, which delivered 28.85 million trips that year.

[25] From November 1949 to March 1950, 88 U.S.-made Dodge T234 buses were shipped from Shanghai and became the mainstay of the Beijing bus fleet.

[26] Due to fuel shortages caused by a US-imposed trade embargo, the buses were converted to burn wood.

[26] They were trucks made in Changchun with wooden carriages added by the Beijing Passenger Vehicle Factory.

[25] In 1958, the first long-distance bus company was established in the city with 114 vehicles, 54 routes and 9.69 million rides delivered.

[25] From 1956 to 1966, trolleybuses gradually replaced trams in the city and the number of bus lines grew from 27 to 56 and the length routes reached 157 km (98 mi).

[25] During the Great Leap Forward, due to diesel shortages caused by the cut-off of Soviet oil exports to China, 130 Beijing buses were converted to burn natural gas in 1960.

[26] The buses, which carried fuel in an inflated bag on the roof, were converted back to burning diesel in 1964, after the discovery of oil in Daqing eased the energy shortage.

[25] Trolleybus service remained an important backbone of surface public transit in the city with more than a dozen lines and a fleet maintained at around 600 vehicles.

[25] During the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, residents and students used buses and trolleybuses to block the advance of the army into the city and many vehicles were destroyed during the armed crackdown.

[29] The first bomb hit a Route 22 Bus in Xidan on the night of March 7, killing three and injuring ten.

[6] At the time the trolley bus system consists of 15 lines and was operated with a fleet of 588 trolleybuses.

On 1 January 2020, the 32 routes of the Beijing Xianglong Bus Co., Ltd. were renumbered from their former "Yuntong" (运通) numbering scheme to standard BPT numbers as the Xianglong Bus Company was merged into the Beijing Public Transport Holdings, Ltd.[e][48] By 2020, the trolleybus network was expanded to 31 routes operated with a fleet of over 1,250 vehicles.

[50] Three fuel cell buses, made by Daimler in Germany and purchased with a grant from the U.N. Development Programme, plied an 18.2-km route from the North Gate of the Summer Palace to Wudaokou.

[50] As of 2013, the technology had not gained broader use in the city because air pollution reduced the efficiency and operating life of fuel cells.

^ On March 26, 2014, the following regular city bus routes were re-numbered as neighborhood shuttles with the 专 prefix: 427→专101, 429→专102, 442→专103, 444→专104, 491→专105, 492→专106, 517→专107, 58→专108, 311→专109, 564→专110, 440→专111, 446→专112, 495→专113, 424→专114, 566→专115, 572→专116, 417→专117, 522→专118, 533→专119, 540→专120, 548→专121, 590→专122.