When you stand at a bus stop, Koreans see a bus coming and say, "Here comes the blue bus!" before they even look at the number. Then they start moving. A foreign student saw that and asked, "Do the colors of the buses mean something?" That's what they asked. They do mean something. ## In the past, there were only numbers Before 2004, Seoul's buses weren't divided by color. You had to memorize where each bus went just by its number. Even Seoul locals got confused in neighborhoods they were visiting for the first time. So the Seoul city government reorganized the bus routes and added colors. They wanted people to tell long-distance buses from neighborhood buses at a glance. ## Now, color comes first The blue bus runs along the main roads that cut across the whole city. The green bus connects neighborhoods with subway stations. It takes short, winding routes. The red bus goes to cities outside Seoul. It's fast, but the fare can be higher. The yellow bus is a circular line that loops around the downtown area. ## What Stayed the Same The numbers are still there. But Koreans first use the color to decide, "Is this bus going far or near?", and then look at the number. That's why the color is what catches your eye first. There's a way you can use it at the bus stop. When you search for directions in a map app, the color appears next to the bus number. Look at the color and take the bus. Fares differ by bus type and may change, so check the Seoul transportation information.