The School Bus is an uncontrollable vehicle appearing as a wreckage in multiple Grand Theft Auto games.
Description[]
2D Universe[]
The school bus made its first appearance in the original Grand Theft Auto, although as a base model of the regular Bus in Liberty City.
3D Universe[]
In pre-release screenshots, early alpha renders found in the Capital Autos promotional website for Grand Theft Auto III and the official DMA Design/Rockstar North's GTA III Game Design Document, it is revealed that the regular Bus was originally designed as a school bus.
The vehicle is depicted as typical American conventional "yellow school bus" complete with a light-adorned rear, as well as the yellow body color that distinguishes it as a school bus. In addition, the Bus features only one frontal entrance on the passenger side of the bus, unlike in the final version (which features doors on both sides).
Since its re-design as a civilian transport bus in the final version, buses resembling the typical "yellow school bus" have appeared in the form of wrecks in almost every Grand Theft Auto title since Grand Theft Auto III.
The exact same bus wreck is reused in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as props for Stadium Events.
HD Universe[]
Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City[]
School bus wrecks continue to appear in Grand Theft Auto IV, this time in the form of two versions, one with its four wheels intact and the other without wheels and with a slightly crushed body; both versions have been extensively stripped, leaving little but their skeletal frames. The buses closely resemble the International Harvester S-Series school bus. The front resembles that of the Securicar, implying that these might be made by Brute.
Unlike other wrecks in the game, school bus wrecks are far fewer in number, appearing in at least two locations, including Firefly Island (close to the Screamer roller coaster), and the Rusty Schit Salvage in Northwood. Traffic law signs throughout the city can also be found, instructing vehicles to stop for school buses.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars[]
In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the school bus wrecks are absent from their original locations. The buses found in Rusty Schit Salvage are replaced with wreckages of 4-door cars and flatbed trucks.
Grand Theft Auto V and Online[]
The School Bus returns in Grand Theft Auto V, this time as an abandoned mobile home in Stab City, that is being used as a large dumpster for various pieces of trash and junk, including a wrecked sail boat. The School Bus is briefly mentioned by Agent 14 during the heist setup mission Prison Break - Bus in Grand Theft Auto Online, while explaining to the GTA Online Protagonist that stealing an old school bus and painting it as a Prison Bus is a bad idea for the heist.
Trivia[]
- Assets used on early alpha vehicles in Grand Theft Auto III can still be found in the texture container file
schoolbus.txd
, including the placeholder "New York" license plates.
See Also[]
- Bus - based on a school bus chassis in GTA (with one variant actually being a school bus), GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA Liberty City Stories. Makes an appearance with different designs in nearly every Grand Theft Auto game afterwards.
- Prison Bus - also based on a school bus chassis.