ORLANDO, Fla. -- One of the chief architects of the revised charter service rule says some provisions of the nine-month-old rule may need to be revised or refined.

Linda Lasley, assistant chief counsel for legislation and regulation at the Federal Transit Administration, said that "once we have an Obama (administration) appointee (as FTA administrator), there is talk of updating the rule. It could happen in 2009.

"On the other hand, you may have a political appointee say, give it a year and see how it works. We want to give our political appointee as much room as possible to look at what changes might need to be made," she said.

In remarks made last month at UMA Motorcoach Expo here, Lasley cited a handful of provisions of the charter service rule that have resulted in confusion, misunderstanding, challenges, and complaints.

For example, she said the "emergency provision" may need to be reconsidered to allow more flexibility when there are disasters, like a large local fire and the fire department needs to move a number of residents quickly.

One unanticipated problem that has developed is that some private operators are responding to charter notice e-mails where the service is far from their service area.

To be able to perform the service, the private operators would have to run the price up by four or five times, said Lasley.

"Its obviously not a success for the rule. No one envisioned that operators from two, three states away would say they could provide the services.

"I dont know how we might solve that problem but it definitely needs to be looked at in the future."

Another issue to look at is refining the e-mail procedures that transit authorities are required to fulfill if theyre interested in performing charter service.

"When a transit authority is interested in partnering with an operator, how can we change the e-mail notification process to include that? Maybe put the intent in the e-mail to make it work better and make it more transparent."

Also, when an operator wants to lease equipment from a transit authority, it can be interpreted that the operator has to exhaust the possibility of working with any other operators. "Some private operators have tried to assert that," said Lasley. "There could be some refinements in that area as well."

Other provisions that may need to be revised include the:

Amount of time private operators have to respond to a charter notice. Or, put another way, private operators not responding to potential charter customers on a timely basis.

Handling of petitions to the FTA administration for events of regional or national significance.

Right of the FTA to clarify advising opinions.

Right of event organizers to file complaints.

But, said Lasley, "I think (the revised rule) has generally worked out very well."

She pointed to several success stories, including movements involving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an air show in Kansas City, and Baltimore Ravens football games.

Ken Presley, vice president of the United Motorcoach Association, presented Lasley with an engraved plaque honoring her for her effective work in implementing and administering the new charter service rule.