MFSABs are alternatives to 15-passenger vans; examples have come into use by child care centers and other organizations (including school systems) due to updated safety regulations.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, small school buses in the United States and Canada were heavily derived from production vehicles.

Dubbed the Micro Bird, the body distinguished itself from the Busette with several key features, many of them geared towards aiding the loading/unloading process.

Ahead of the entry door, two windows were added, further aiding visibility; to this day, this layout is copied in virtually all cutaway-chassis buses.

[3] Following the end of the first joint venture with Girardin Minibus in 1999, Blue Bird commenced development of its own body for a single rear-wheel cutaway chassis.

Making its debut in 2001, the Micro Bird SW (single rear wheel) was produced in two variants: a lower-roofline body (similar to the MB-II, and largely intended as a MFSAB) and a version with a roofline nearly matching the dual rear-wheel Micro Bird in height.

The partnership, named Micro Bird, Inc., consolidated all Type A school bus production at the Girardin facilities in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada.

Prior to the 1992 redesign of the Ford E-Series, the Micro Bird was produced nearly exclusively on the Chevrolet/GMC G30 dual rear-wheel cutaway van chassis.

Alongside the MB-Series, the Micro Bird expanded chassis availability to the Ford E-Series starting in 1992.

From 1994 to 1996, General Motors offered a second chassis for the Micro Bird; to produce a heavier-duty version of its cutaway van, GM placed the cab of the G30 van on the higher-GVWR frame of the P30 "step-van" chassis; these versions are distinguished by an extended nose with a tilt-forward hood.

[5] Using a version of the Girardin MB body (Micro Bird T-Series), both single and dual rear-wheel configurations are produced.