BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The 2025 World Police and Fire Games brought more than 8,700 first responders from 72 countries to Birmingham. The city’s motorcoach operators played a key role in moving athletes across 30 venues and dozens of hotels — and now they’re preparing to do it again at the 2026 United Motorcoach Association EXPO.
“We had as many as 18 drivers a day running hotel shuttles for nearly 20 hours,” said Frank Leyden, Vice President and General Manager of Cline Tours in Alabama. “Events like this work because of relationships — we’ve worked with Callaway Transportation for years, and their ground teams know our drivers by name. That kind of coordination makes everything run more smoothly.”
Callaway served as the logistics broker for the event, contracting three Birmingham-based operators: Cline Tours, Southeastern Motorcoach, and Thrasher Brothers Trailways. Each played a vital role in transporting athletes and visitors throughout Greater Birmingham. Leyden credited the success to strong working relationships and local collaboration.
“Alan Thrasher and I, along with Randy Williams, of Southeastern, generally share the load when big events come to town,” Leyden said. “We’ve worked together since the 1999 ABA show, and the goal has always been to keep the business local.”
Thrasher, president of Thrasher Brothers Trailways and chairman of the UMA board, said the Games demonstrated how effectively local operators work together during major events. The World Games came to Birmingham in 2022, and even more buses served the city during this event.
“This isn’t about my hometown — it’s about UMA EXPO coming to Birmingham and UMA members pulling together to make it the best Expo ever,” Thrasher said. “When the board members held the summer meeting here, they were skeptical. Then they came, they experienced the city, they ate great food — and now they’re believers in the Magic City.”
Destination for athletics
The success of the World Police and Fire Games illustrates why Birmingham continues to attract major sporting events. Reliable transportation providers and modern venues helped make the city a popular destination for national and international athletic competitions.
“People forget Birmingham used to be the football capital of the South because of the Iron Bowl — Alabama vs. Auburn,” Thrasher said. “Now, we’re becoming the sports capital of the South.”
Birmingham is home to the CrossPlex, one of the top indoor track facilities in the country that brings in teams from as far away as Texas and Indiana nearly every weekend in the fall. The city also hosts the Magic City Classic, the nation’s largest HBCU football game, which draws more than 150,000 people each year despite a stadium capacity of 76,000.
“We designed a shuttle system to get people from three major parking lots into Legion Field — 75 buses used just for that, plus close to 200 charter buses,” Thrasher said.
Downtown’s Protective Stadium, which opened during the pandemic, hosted the return of the USFL.“That influx of cash saved my business,” Thrasher said, referencing the eight teams based in Birmingham during the league’s relaunch in 2022.
The city also hosts the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, along with cross country, track, and pickleball events that drive motorcoach demand.
Games were cultural event
The World Police and Fire Games brought 8,750 participants — a 20% increase over its 2023 event in Winnipeg, Manitoba— with 644 athletes coming from Alabama. Nearly 120 medals were awarded to local competitors.
Birmingham Fire & Rescue Chief Cory Moon called the event a milestone.
“Having these Games come to the City of Birmingham and seeing firefighters and police officers from all over the world reminds us that these Games highlight the camaraderie between first responders,” Moon said. “Being part of these Games has been the honor of a lifetime.”
Drivers also valued the cultural exchange that came with the job.
“They exchange pins, buttons, trinkets — it becomes more than just a shuttle route,” Leyden said. “It’s a cultural experience.”
Prepping for EXPO
With the successful World Games and Police and Fire Games behind them, operators are setting their sights on the UMA Motorcoach EXPO in early 2026.
“Expo coming to Birmingham will let people see how laid out and beautiful this place really is — rolling hills, trees,” Thrasher said. “People are always stunned. And yeah, it’s hot. Welcome to our jungle. Out-of-state buses come here and need us to fix their air conditioning.”
He also pointed to the people and culture that make Birmingham distinct.
“We’ve got Southern hospitality, and we’re racially diverse because we’ve lived it,” he said. “We’re one of the most proactive cities in the world.”
Leyden emphasized that the city’s motorcoach community succeeds because of collaboration.
“You have to have friends. You can’t do it alone,” he said.
Recently, the BJCC, host site of EXPO, hosted its largest event, a three-day Motion Conference that brought over a hundred buses to Birmingham from across the Southeast. Thrasher said that locally, we contracted 55 buses to pick up across the state, utilizing six UMA member companies.
The drivers stayed here, transporting everyone from the hotels to the BCC and then carrying them back home. The effort was well organized, the buses were lined up around the BJCC every night, and yet traffic moved smoothly, and there were no mishaps. The transportation piece was an absolute success.
Thrasher added that Birmingham’s population growth is contributing to an increase in charter activity.
“People are moving here — from Michigan to California — and that means more bus traffic,” he said.
As excitement builds for the upcoming EXPO, Thrasher is already thinking about the visitor experience.
“When we get closer, we should write something like ‘Five secrets to experience before you leave Birmingham’ — little things people remember,” he said.
