About North American Bus Industries

North American Bus Industries, Inc. has become an innovative leader in the transportation industry.  Our product offering has the widest range of vehicles of any manufacturer.  Not only are we producing vehicles made of different materials but we’re on the cutting edge of styling as well as advancement in technology with propulsion systems ranging from clean diesel, hybrid, CNG and LNG. 

The vision established by The Traxis Group, B.V. in 2006 brought together three distinct brands in the transportation industry—NABI, Optima and Blue Bird—thus forming North American Bus Industries, Inc.  This partnering provides the ability to offer a complete line of standard and low-floor, heavy-duty transit buses ranging in size from 30’ to 65’.  Our brands are rich with history.   

For NABI, it all started in 1976 when an aircraft salesman created a reciprocal trade program involving Hungarian buses. Shortly thereafter, a strategic alliance was formed between a United States company, Crown Coach and Hungarian bus manufacturing giant, Ikarus.  The first bus of this arrangement was a 60-foot articulated vehicle made its debut in 1977 in Los Angeles.  During the next decade, several new models were introduced and made available with both diesel and alternate fuels.  In 1988, a new manufacturing facility was built in Anniston, AL, which is also the headquarters today for North American Bus Industries.  

For Optima, it started in 1976 as the Chance Coach division of Chance Industries, Inc. The initial product offering was a small under 26’ heavy-duty transit coach known as the RT-52 and a rubber tired trolley replica, the Alamo City Streetcar later replaced in 1993 with the ADA compliant American Heritage Streetcar.  Their niche in the transit industry was found by establishing a reputation for building products that stand the test of time.   This reputation along with market demand for small buses lead to the development of the Opus low floor bus in 1999, known for its stylish interior and exterior coupled with a heavy duty transit quality chassis to meet the requirements of a twelve year bus.

Building on the success of its school bus line, Blue Bird expanded its vision in the early 1990s, Blue Bird developed a plan to provide customized, innovative and economical buses to all sectors of the commercial market - transit, shuttle, and tour/charter.  Drawing on their knowledge and experience in the school bus and motor coach markets made for a smooth transition into the commercial bus segment.  After three years of engineering and testing the Blue Bird Ultra LF was introduced in 2003.  Its European styling and proven performance were welcomed by the North American transit and shuttle markets.  Offered in an under 30’ and 35’ length it continues to be the vehicle of choice by many transit authorities.

North American Bus Industries is totally committed to helping mass transit organizations of all sizes and geographic locations in the public and private markets with the highest quality mass transit vehicles in America.  Our commitment to you is to focus on your needs creating value through better products, lower costs, greater speed, and superior service.  Our objective is to find customers and keep them.