How the Fare Calculator Works

The calculator is deliberately a scenario tool. It computes change from values you can see in your current session and never presents a community route table as an official formula.

Inputs

The pure calculation module accepts:

• fare due
• cash tendered
• passenger count

All values must be finite and non-negative. Passenger count must be a whole number from 1 to 20. The 20-passenger boundary is a tool safety limit, not a claim about vehicle capacity.

Outputs

For each passenger:

change per passenger = cash tendered - fare

For a group with the same fare and tender:

total fare = fare x passenger count

total tendered = cash tendered x passenger count

total change = change per passenger x passenger count

The result status is change-due, exact-payment, or underpaid. Underpayment is never converted into a positive change figure.

Decimal policy

The engine accepts inputs with at most two decimal places and rounds the final output to two places. This prevents floating-point noise such as 0.30000000004. It does not claim that Diesel N Steel officially uses decimal fares.

Confidence and version

The panel labels the source as player-input scenario data with high confidence in the arithmetic and no claim about the route fare. The formula version is scenario-change-v1, checked 2026-07-31.

Open the calculator, read the wider fare guide, or use the mistake checklist before a live run.