This read-only counter tallies the number of octets the BUS has forwarded since its initialization. Because the BUS exists specifically to carry broadcast, multicast, and initial unknown-destination traffic for the emulated LAN, not regular known-unicast traffic exchanged directly between LECs, this counter is a direct measure of how much of that broadcast-style load the emulated LAN is generating, and an unusually fast-climbing value can indicate a broadcast storm or excessive flooding among the LEC clients. This counter climbing dramatically faster than usual, without a corresponding rise in busOutFwdUcastFrms, would suggest a spike in multicast or unknown-destination flooding across the ELAN rather than a legitimate increase in application traffic.