A boy called Robert lives with his mum and dad, surrounded by comfort and love. But his parents are always in a hurry to get somewhere – unlike Robert, who likes to take his time looking at what's going on around him. In his imagination, inanimate objects come to life.

One day, on his way to nursery, Robert sees a new bus. It's a driverless electric bus, the city's only test model. Robert has the impression that the bus is trying to communicate with him by flashing its headlights and smiling. He is excited and dreams of riding on the Robobus. But his mum thinks that buses are uncomfortable and take too long, and says travelling by car is much faster.

Another time, Robert and his group from nursery go on a trip to a bus depot. There they discover that Robobus spends the night outside, next to the charging station, and not in the garage with all the other buses. Robert thinks that Robobus must be very lonely. He's not like the other buses at all – he doesn't even have his own driver! Robert decides to make a friend for Robobus.

When his parents find an enormous cardboard bus in Robert's room, the way they see their son and the world changes. Robert's dad drives him to the bus depot, and they give Robobus his cardboard companion. On the weekend, the whole family go for a ride together on Robobus. Robert's mum and dad decide they need to slow down so they can really be with their son and see the things that they didn't notice before. The traffic lights even start smiling at Robert's mum.