The vehicle model of the recirculating ball-type electric power steering (EPS) system for the pure electric bus was built. According to the features of constrained optimization for multi-variable function, a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) was designed. Based on the model of system, the quantitative formula of the road feel, sensitivity, and operation stability of the steering were induced. Considering the road feel and sensitivity of steering as optimization objectives, and the operation stability of steering as constraint, the multi-objective GA was proposed and the system parameters were optimized. The simulation results show that the system optimized by multi-objective genetic algorithm has better road feel, steering sensibility and steering stability. The energy of steering road feel after optimization is 1.44 times larger than the one before optimization, and the energy of portability after optimization is 0.4 times larger than the one before optimization. The ground test was conducted in order to verify the feasibility of simulation results, and it is shown that the pure electric bus equipped with the recirculating ball-type EPS system can provide better road feel and better steering portability for the drivers, thus the optimization methods can provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of the recirculating ball-type EPS system.