🚌 School Bus Driver 3D

A school bus game you can play in your browser

School Bus Driver 3D puts you in the driver's seat of a big yellow school bus in the friendly town of Brookside. Your job is the most important one on the road: getting children to school and back home safely. That means doing everything a real school bus driver does, from the flashing warning lights to the STOP arm that swings out from the side of the bus, and it means driving smoothly, because every bump and every hard brake is felt by a bus full of children.

The whole game runs in your web browser, on a computer, a Chromebook, a tablet or a phone. There is nothing to download and nothing to sign up for.

How a school bus stop works

Real school buses follow a careful routine at every stop, and so do you. As you come close to a stop, switch on the amber warning lights with the Y key or the 🟡 button: they tell everyone around you that the bus is about to stop. Pull up with the door next to the yellow SCHOOL BUS STOP sign; the box painted on the road turns green when you are in the right place. Then open the door. The amber lights change to flashing red lights, the red octagonal STOP arm swings out from the driver's side and the crossing arm swings out from the front bumper. Cars in both directions have to stop and wait.

Now the children climb aboard, each one with a bright backpack. At some stops the children live on the other side of the street, so they walk along the pavement, cross the road well in front of the bus where you can see them, and then get on. On the way home they do the same in reverse. You cannot close the door until every child is safely on the bus or on the pavement. When everyone is ready, close the door, the arm folds away and you can drive on.

Five routes around Brookside

Morning Pickup collects children from five stops around town and takes them to Brookside School. Afternoon Drop-off starts at the school with a full bus and takes everyone home. Early Bird is a longer pickup route that starts before sunrise, with the headlights on, the street lamps glowing and lit windows in every house. Field Trip takes the whole class from school to the Science Museum, waits while they visit, and brings them back again. Free Drive has no timetable at all: explore the town, practise your stops and press N to switch between day and night.

The school zone and the crossing guard

Around the school the speed limit drops to 20 mph, and the speed limit sign in the corner of the screen changes to show it. Near the end of every route to school, a crossing guard in a bright yellow vest is waiting at the last junction. When your bus comes close, the guard steps into the road holding up a STOP sign. Stop before the zebra crossing and wait while a group of children walk across, then the guard waves thank you and steps back. If you drive straight through, the children stay safely on the pavement, but you lose 10 points.

Your safety score

Every route ends with a safety score out of 100. Points come off for stopping without the amber warning lights, for not stopping for the crossing guard, for running a red light, for bumping into cars or posts, for opening the door away from a stop, for speeding, for running late and for a rough ride. The comfort meter next to the speedometer shows how the children feel: it drops when you brake hard, accelerate hard or swing round corners too fast, and slowly recovers when you drive gently. A score of 70 or more earns two stars, and 88 or more earns three.

Stars unlock two more buses: the nimble Mini School Bus, which is shorter and easier to park, and the quiet Electric School Bus, which pulls away smoothly with no gears.

Tips for a perfect route

Switch the amber lights on early, about 100 metres before the stop; a reminder pops up if you forget. Brake gently and stop a little short of the sign, then creep forward the last few metres. Use the door camera (press C) to line up the door with the sign. Watch the traffic lights at every junction: a red light costs 10 points. Slow down before turns, because a long bus needs room to swing round a corner, and remember that the children's comfort counts. If the bus ends up on the pavement or stuck, press R to put it back on the road.

Controls

On a computer, W or the up arrow accelerates and S or the down arrow brakes; hold the brake when you are stopped to reverse. A and D or the left and right arrows steer. Y switches the amber warning lights on or off, O opens and closes the door, C changes the camera, H sounds the horn, L switches the headlights, P pauses and R puts the bus back on the road. On phones and tablets the steering arrows are on the left, the brake and accelerator are on the right, and the 🟡 and 🚪 buttons sit in between.

Free, safe and made for every device

School Bus Driver 3D is a calm, kind driving game. Nobody is ever hurt: the children always wait on the pavement until it is safe, and the traffic stops for them. There are no adverts inside the game, no accounts, no chat and nothing to buy, and your stars are saved only on your device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More bus games

Drive a city bus in City Bus Simulator, take an intercity coach between towns in Coach Bus Simulator 3D, or solve a colourful puzzle in Bus Jam. Every bus game is on the Bus Games page, and there are more driving games on the Simulation Games page.

Frequently asked questions