Optima Bus, LLC, formerly Chance Coach Inc., was a brand of small transit buses manufactured by

North American Bus Industries NABI Bus, LLC (NABI) is a former manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses with its headquarters, bus manufacturing and assembly operations, located in Anniston, Alabama. Its products ranged from 31-feet to 60-feet in length, and were sold to ...

. It was established in 1976 in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. It was originally the trolley-replica and conventional-bus production business of Chance Industries, Inc. In 1998, Chance Coach, Inc. was sold to American Capital Strategies, which rebranded the company as Optima Bus Corporation in 2003. American Capital subsequently sold Optima to

, who closed the Kansas assembly plant on August 8, 2007, with production moved to their existing plant in

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 23,106. Acco ...

. Optima Bus is now North American Bus Industries, Inc.

Models

Current

* Opus: under or under

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low- ...

, design based on

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman ...

bodywork * American Heritage Streetcar AH-28 - trolley-style body on bus chassis ;Opus ISE series hybrid * Opus ISE Series Hybrid Buses is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

Opus version.http://www.isecorp.com/ise_news/ise_press_releases/june-26-2007-Opus-dieselhybrid.php , isecorp.com, 08-12-13 It utilizes

ISE Ise may refer to: Places * Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of th ...

-Siemens ThunderVolt hybrid technology built around

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

ELFA

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

s and

inverters A power inverter, inverter or invertor is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opp ...

Historic

*Chance RT-52 is a small Shuttle Bus used in Hawaii. 17 Chance RT-52 Shuttle bus still in service. Chance manufactured the Sunliner trams, an open-air towed tram used at various parks and zoos in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

References

External links

Optima page on North American Bus Industries site

Opus ISE Series Hybrid Bus
{{North American bus builders Bus manufacturers of the United States Hybrid electric bus manufacturers Companies based in Wichita, Kansas Private equity portfolio companies Cerberus Capital Management companies Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States

Models

Current

Historic

See also

References

External links