Love the Bus Month – February 2025

History of Love the Bus Month

The history of the school bus dates back centuries. However, significant developments have occurred as recently as the 1980s. As the decade began, there was a decrease in student population growth, putting a hold on school bus manufacturing.

In 1986, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act was signed and this meant that school bus drivers across the United States needed to get a commercial driver’s license (C.D.L.) The federal C.D.L. requirement ensured that drivers of all large vehicles (such as school buses) had a reasonable level of consistency in training.

The 1990s bore better tidings for school bus manufacturers and in 1995, Navistar acquired AmTran and in 1996, it produced its first rear-engine bus chassis since 1973.

Extensive changes were introduced in school bus production at the start of the 21st century. At the beginning of the 2000s, manufacturers introduced a new generation of conventional-style school buses, which coincided with the redesign of several medium-duty truck lines. In 2004, manufacturers Thomas introduced a new bus design that allowed the use of the production Freightliner dashboard.

From 2004 to 2008, a North Carolina-based non-profit establishment, Advanced Energy, commenced an effort to advance to plug-in hybrid school buses. In 2011, the Canadian company Lion Electric Company, formerly Lion Bus, was founded, with its establishment symbolizing the first entry into the business in more than two decades by a full-size bus manufacturer. The company produces conventional-style school buses, with design features including several innovations for school buses. The first mass-produced school bus with a fully electric powertrain was introduced by Lion in 2015.

In 2015, American automobile company Ford introduced the Ford Transit cutaway chassis. The first bus made from the Ram ProMaster cutaway chassis took place in 2018 and Collins Bus introduced the first low-floor school bus of its kind.