WASHINGTON Leading motorcoach industry trade associations and two of the industry's largest companies have asked the Federal Transit Administration to make changes to the revised charter bus rules before they go into effect April 30. (See Feb. 1 issue of Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Seven motorcoach organizations, plus the two companies, all of which took part in drafting the rules during months of negotiations with public transit operators, filed a formal request asking the FTA to reconsider its final product.

Separately, two members of the group filed individual petitions seeking additional modifications to the rule.

"In general, the petitioners believe the final charter rule is a significant improvement over the current rule," the larger group wrote in its filing with the FTA before complaining that some provisions of the new rules lack clarity and others were revised in a manner that will harm charter bus operators and make compliance with the rule impracticable, unreasonable and not in the public interest.

The petition was signed by the United Motorcoach Association, American Bus Association, California Bus Association, Coach America, Coach USA, Trailways Transportation System, National School Transportation Association, Northwest Motorcoach Association, and Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association.

Their targets include wording that indicates the FTA is willing to exempt from the rule college campus shuttle services performed by transit agencies.

The nine petitioners contend that section of the new rule may lead to some transit agencies believing they can run campus shuttles that actually are charters and which should be handled by private carriers.

The group suggested the FTA either drop the wording or add additional details explaining when college shuttle service would be considered charter service.

Also under attack by the group is a provision that expands from three days to 40 days a special exemption transit agencies can receive for providing transportation services during emergencies.

"Although the petitioners do not oppose the change to allow transit agencies to respond with charter bus service to declared emergencies, it is extremely rare that emergency conditions requiring transit bus charter service will last for one and one-half months," the group emphasized.

Such an expansion, it cautioned, could lead to transit agencies avoiding reporting requirements for extended periods of time by claiming to provide emergency service.

Targeted, too, is a section that allows transit agencies to seek exemptions to the rule when providing charter serve in rural areas or in urbanized areas with a population of less than 200,000. The exemption would be triggered if a private carrier interested in doing the work requires a minimum trip duration or its deadhead time exceeds the total trip time.

The group asks that the urbanized area be removed from the rule and that it only apply to rural communities.

At the same time, in a separate filing, the American Bus Association went after provisions that require private operators that receive certain types of FTA funds to abide by the charter rule themselves.

The ABA calls that section unclear and in conflict with other parts of the rule. It maintains that an effort by the FTA to explain details of the provision in the question-and-answer section of the rule creates even further confusion that should be clarified.

"There is no reason to require private operators who might receive some FTA funding to go through this tortured analysis to determine if a vehicle or an activity or a service is sufficiently tainted with FTA money to subject the operator to the charter rule," the ABA said in its filing.

To fix the problem, the ABA suggested private operators be exempt from the rule in all cases except when the carrier has acquired a coach with 80 percent or more in federal funds.

Coach USA also filed a separate petition for reconsideration of the provisions that govern private carriers that do work for transit agencies and operate college shuttle services.