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 Connecticut Transit Nova Bus LFS Articulated bus | |
| Formerly | NovaBus Corporation |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Predecessor | General Motors Diesel Division Transportation Manufacturing Corporation |
| Founded | 1979; 46 years ago (1979) (plant) 1993; 32 years ago (1993) (company) |
| Headquarters | Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada |
Area served | Canada and United States |
Key people | Paul Le Houillier (President) |
| Products | Public transitbuses |
| Owner | Volvo |
| Website | novabus.com |
Nova Bus is aCanadian transit bus manufacturer headquartered inSaint-Eustache, Quebec. Nova is owned by theVolvo Group.
The company has roots in theGeneral Motors Diesel Division, which opened in 1979. Nova Bus was established in 1993, byNova Quintech, through the acquisition ofDial Corporation's transit division which consisted ofMotor Coach Industries andTransportation Manufacturing Corporation. Volvo took partial ownership of Nova Bus in 1998 and complete ownership in 2004.
Nova Bus's Saint-Eustache factory is a formerGeneral Motors plant that builtcity transit buses for the Canadian and US market. Inaugurated in 1979, the plant was used to produce theNew Look bus (up to 1983) and theClassic (starting 1982) model for sales in Canada. In 1987, GM sold its bus-building holdings toGreyhound Dial Corporation, the parent company ofMotor Coach Industries (MCI) while GMC'sRapid Transit Series (RTS) product was moved to join MCI's own designs atTransportation Manufacturing Corporation inRoswell, New Mexico.
By the 1990s, Dial intended to sell its transportation manufacturing and service divisions. The St-Eustache facility was faced with closure. The entity, known asNova Bus Corporation, was formed by individuals fromNova Quintech and the Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec to acquire MCI's St-Eustache facility from Dial. Nova Quintech was formed in 1991 after a group of investors purchased the assets of the bankrupt fire truck manufacturer Camions Pierre Thibault Inc. The Government of Quebec agreed to contribute a $2.5-million, interest-free loan, and $10 million in loan guarantees. In addition, they agreed to purchase over 300 buses between 1993 and 1994.[1] The sale of the MCI's St-Eustache operations occurred on 6 July 1993.
MCI and TMC were spun-off from Dial in 1993, and merged with MexicanDINA S.A., who sold the TMC plant and RTS rights to Nova Bus in 1994. The RTS model was continued to be produced in the Roswell plant to meetBuy America requirements.
The Nova Classic and Nova RTS were later discontinued in order to concentrate on the Nova LFS, alow floor city bus, which was announced in 1994 with deliveries starting in 1997. The last Classic model was produced in 1997. Sales of Nova RTS were insufficient and Nova Bus closed its Roswell andNiskayuna, New York plants in 2002 to concentrate all efforts on the Canadian market. The Roswell plant was later acquired by a local consortium,Millennium Transit Services, who became defunct around 2012. TheChicago Transit Authority (CTA), which in 1998, placed an order for 484 LFS units that were manufactured and delivered between 2000 and 2002, was the firstUS customer to purchase a large order of this model, and remains one of the larger operators of Nova LFS buses.
By 1998, Nova Bus was then acquired byVolvo Buses andPrevost Car who owned 51% of the company whileHenlys Group owned 49%. Volvo acquired Henlys remaining interest in 2004.
On February 2, 2008, Nova Bus announced plans for the construction of a new assembly plant inPlattsburgh, New York, signifying the company's return to the US bus market. The plant opened on June 15, 2009.[2] The first order from a US-based customer came from theNew York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) for 90 LFSarticulated buses; the NYCTA now has nearly 500 articulated and non-articulated LFSs. In March 2010, Nova Bus received the first order for the US-built, redesigned LFS fromHonolulu, Hawaii'sTheBus; 24 were delivered in December 2010. TheBus planned to order more, but ultimately chose buses fromGillig instead.[3] In March 2012, the Walt Disney Company announced that it plans to test a Nova articulated bus on certain high traffic routes at the Walt Disney World Resort. In 2012, theSoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) ordered 315 buses, including 225 articulated buses to replace its agingNeoplanAN460 articulated buses and its remainingNorth American Bus IndustriesNABI 416 standard buses;[4] the articulated hybrid buses were introduced inPhiladelphia on October 27, 2014.[5] In 2013, theChicago Transit Authority placed an order for 300 40 foot Nova Bus clean-diesel buses, with an option to buy an additional 150.[6]
On June 21, 2023, Nova Bus announced that it would again exit the United States market in 2025, and close the Plattsburgh plant. The company cited continuing financial losses in its decision to restructure operations to focus on Canada.[7][8]
On March 28, 2024, Nova Bus announced the retirement of president Ralph Acs, who retired on April 1st, 2024. Mr. Acs was succeeded by Paul Le Houillier on June 1st, 2024. Mr. Acs remains part of the Nova Bus Board of Directors.[9]
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The LFS (Low Floor Series) is currently the only vehicle built by Nova Bus. It was the first bus designed by the company and entered production in 1996.
Since being introduced, the LFS has been redesigned several times, across four generations. Introduced as a diesel-fueled, rigid 40-foot (12 m) bus, several variants have been offered over the last several decades of production.
Several alternative powertrains have been offered includingcompressed natural gas (CNG) fueled engines, diesel-electric hybrids (both series and parallel arrangements) and battery-electric.Articulated 62-foot (19 m) versions have been offered since 2009. Nova Bus also offers suburban configurations of their 40-foot buses with one door andmotorcoach style seating, and previously offered special bodywork styling packages for 62-foot buses intended for use onbus rapid transit services.
| Model | Length | Width | Photo | Years Produced | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Transit Series (RTS) |
|
|  | 1995–2004 |
|
| Classic (TC40102A, TC40102N) | 12.19 m (40 ft) | 2.59 m (102 in) |  | 1993–1997 |
|
| Classic TC60102N | 18.29 m (60 ft) | 2.59 m (102 in) |  | 1993 |
|
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