School Buses

Did you know?

The first school bus appeared in London in 1827—it was a wooden, horse-drawn carriage with a capacity of 25 children. The first motorized school bus appeared in 1914, with a wooden body mounted on an automobile chassis. Bus manufacturers transitioned to all-steel construction by the mid-1930s. In 1939 a national conference of bus manufacturers and transportation officials established safety and construction standards still in use today, including the universal “school bus yellow” color.

Blue Bird

The first Blue Bird school bus was built in 1927, revolutionizing the school transportation industry with its steel construction. In 1935, Blue Bird Body Company opened their first manufacturing plant, in Fort Valley, Georgia. The Micro Bird model was introduced in 1975, and the Mini Bird followed in 1977. The first Blue Bird Vision models, using a dedicated type C body and chassis, rolled out in 2003. In 2008 the type D All American models were introduced, featuring many user-suggested upgrades and redesigns. The propane-powered Vision was launched in 2010.