Last updated: 16 July 2026
Delhi has more than 2,000 active bus routes, and the numbering system grew organically over five decades — so it has patterns, exceptions, and exceptions to the exceptions. You don't need to memorise it; you need just enough to read a destination board with confidence.
Most routes are a plain number — 543, 764, 181. The same number runs in both directions, so the number alone doesn't tell you which way the bus is going: always read the destination text on the front board, or check the bus's live heading in a tracking app.
Never assume a lettered variant stops where the parent route stops. Before boarding a 543A when you usually ride the 543, check its stop list — in any app that carries Delhi's official route data, the variant is listed as its own route with its own stops.
Two famous route families circle the city rather than crossing it:
Because they're loops, direction matters more than usual — the same stops are served clockwise and anti-clockwise, and boarding the wrong direction can turn a 15-minute hop into an hour-long tour of Delhi.
Shorter feeder routes connect Metro stations to surrounding neighbourhoods — these often carry an ML-style prefix or run as small "mohalla"/feeder buses (including the newer 9-metre electric DEVI buses). Separate express services connect the city to the airport terminals.
Roughly, yes — routes were historically numbered in geographic bands (different hundreds-series concentrated in different zones of Delhi, e.g. many 5xx routes serve south and south-west Delhi while 7xx routes cluster in the west and north-west). But decades of renumbering, extensions and new routes mean the bands are a loose habit, not a rule. Treat the number as an ID, not a map.
© BusPe. Route patterns described here are general guidance — official route definitions live with DTC/DIMTS and Delhi's Open Transit Data portal. BusPe is an independent app and website, not affiliated with DTC or the Delhi Government.