PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Pareto Mobility is building what its founder calls North America’s first fully flat-floor commercial bus at a Plymouth, Mich., Township warehouse, adding manufacturing jobs at the former Burroughs campus.
Founder and CEO AJ Kumar said the Step-Free design removes interior steps and slopes so riders using wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility devices can board without a traditional wheelchair lift. The company bills the vehicle as a fully flat low-floor commercial bus.
A DBusiness report on the opening put the manufacturing and assembly footprint at about 50,000 square feet on the Burroughs office campus in Plymouth Township. Kumar said the plant brings commercial bus manufacturing back to Michigan five years after Champion Bus ceased operations in the state in 2021.
Local coverage this week showed the first bus built at the new plant getting final touches before shipment to a dealer. Kumar said riders can enter at the front and sit anywhere because there are no steps through the cabin.
Plymouth Township Supervisor Chuck Curmi called Pareto an example of the technology, research and light manufacturing mix the township wants, noting Burroughs once combined engineering and production at the same Plymouth Road plant. Chamber leaders also welcomed the reuse of the long-vacant industrial space.
Company statements say Step-Free buses will be sold through dealers nationwide for transit agencies, senior-living communities, health care providers and shuttle operators, with delivery across the United States and Canada as production scales in Plymouth, Mich.
