The stop procedure is the same on a local and on a harbour crossing. Distance and lag change. The rules do not.
Use this with the first shift keys. The 7 metre figure and the depot exception are the parts players miss.
Arrive
Stop within about 7 metres of the stand. The game asks for the parking brake and the front door. If the prompt does not appear, you are probably too far past the pole, not "early".
Two stands are stricter. At the CSB Depot rooftop and the Forever Transit depot the prompt only shows at about 3 to 4 metres. Do not use the 7 metre habit there.
Set P (or Shift if you are in mouse driving). From client V3853 on 3 May 2026 the parking brake is cleared automatically when you start up. It is not cleared for you at the next stop. Holding P while still moving is a harsh brake, and passengers complain.
In a Community Server, leave extra room. Lag can put you through the 7 metre window before the prompt draws.
Board
Open K. Both leaves open, even on buses with a single-leaf option.
Passengers pay at the reader or the farebox, then move to a seat. If the bus is full they stand in the aisle or on the upper deck. They will not board through L, even if you open it to hurry them. On a one-door bus they wait until alighting is finished. If people are still in the aisle, the next passenger waits with a hand on the reader.
Close the door only after that animation finishes. An early close strands them and you lose time rather than gain it.
These services skip boarding entirely, because they are free: private hires, sponsored Daily Challenge routes, U47, and staff shuttles.
Alight
A passenger rings the bell at their own stop and walks straight to the exit. Open L if the bus has a rear door. If it does not, they use the front door. They do not split across both doors even when both are open. That is a scripting limit, not a Hong Kong boarding rule.
Wheelchair passengers wait until the bus has fully stopped and the parking brake is on. Then they need both door leaves, the ramp (J) and a kneel. Kneel has no key. Skip the kneel and they complain. The CSB Scania K360IB and FT MAN RR8 cannot take them at all.
On a two-way section fare, a passenger may walk forward and tap the reader again before going back to the exit.
Leave
Close the doors, release the brake, and go. Hazards (X) are for a stop that is not a stand, including an AFK on a realism server. They are not a substitute for the parking brake at a normal stand.
If the duty paid nothing
Check the skipped-stop rule first. One missed scheduled stand removes the experience and Sunshard payout for that shift. Then check that you were on a paying shift rather than Free Drive. Free Drive, including the Pirate Ship and the Civic, pays nothing on purpose.
A challenge or a race uses the same doors. Grumble Day adds extra complaint triggers, listed in the Sunshards guide. Those triggers are not the baseline for a Tuesday local.