WASHINGTON D.C. The nations capital doesnt appear ready to give up its newly enacted trip permit for charter buses, but it is making it easier for motorcoach operators to obtain one.

The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles now allows operators to apply for the controversial permit online, apply for bulk permits, and get replacement permits at no extra cost if a bus with a permit breaks down.

"They became very accommodating kind of quickly," observes Ken Presley, vice president of industry relations at the United Motorcoach Association, which joined with two other trade groups to file suit against the district over the permit.

Under the trip permit measure that was adopted by the D.C. City Council earlier in the year and became effective Aug.1, visiting buses must display either an apportioned license tag or a short-term trip permit to operate in the district.

The permits cost $50 and are good for six days. Bus owners can be fined up to $500 if they do not have a permit and up to $1,000 if they misuse it, including placing it on a different coach.

Initially, the permits were not available online and had to be purchased individually for each coach in a companys fleet. Since then, the DMV has added the online application services and bulk purchases.

The permits also were not transferable and if a breakdown occurred the operator had to buy a new permit for the replacement coach. Now, the operator can obtain a replacement permit at no cost by notifying the DMV of the breakdown and providing the agency information about the second bus.

"I think what theyve done is take some of the sting out of the permits," says Presley.

The DMV says it makes enhancements to all of its services regularly and will continue to do so for the trip permit program as well, according to spokeswoman Janis Hazel, who notes that some improvements have been made at the suggestion of operators.

"We try to accommodate our customers on a case-by-case basis," she said, adding that the agency has delivered new permits to hotels where bus drivers whose coaches had broken down were staying.

Still, operators who frequent the district remain adamantly opposed to the trip permit, charging they are a money grab by the district and are likely to hurt the districts tourism efforts.

The improvements to the process may have been in response to suggestions made by operators in numerous e-mails and letters they sent to members of the D.C. City Council protesting the permits and the way the DMV has administrated them, according to Presley.

Councilman Jim Graham responded to operators who complained to him that he would pass along their suggestions to the DMV and would consider the entire issue when the council returns from its summer break in September.

Among those who complained was George R. Childers, owner of Magic Carpet Ride in Vero Beach, Fla., who worries that operators who take a last-minute tour to D.C. still may not receive their permits in time.

"I am not in favor of this permit by any stretch of the imagination," he said in an e-mail to Graham. "However, whenever a law such as this is proposed, one would think someone with a little common sense would review the mechanics of the process."

Childers warned that if the issues he has with the permit process are not resolved soon, he will not allow his coaches to bring "revenue bearing visitors" into the district.

Meantime, the three partners who filed the suit against the district UMA, the American Bus Association and the National Tour Association have asked for a summary court judgment that would force the district to abandon the trip permit legislation.

"We wanted to cut right to the chase because we think we have an open and shut case," said Victor Para, UMA president and chief executive.

He maintains the trip permit violates federal interstate commerce regulations, and the requirement that operators purchase apportioned tags if they do not obtain a permit violates International Registration Plan rules.

The IRP, which governs licensing for commercial vehicles that travel in multiple states or jurisdictions, exempts charter buses from having to carry apportioned tags because their interstate travel is unpredictable. Line-run buses and commercial trucks are required to have apportioned tags based on annual estimates they make of the interstate travel they expect to make.

Parra, who sits on the IRP board, said D.C. is a member of the IRP and agreed to the exemption as part of its participation in the organization. "It now cant require charter buses to have apportioned tags," he contends.

He noted, too, that the citations being issued to motorcoach operators by D.C. police actually have been for not having apportioned tags rather than for not carrying a trip permit, a move that could backfire on them.

"I think they might know the trip permit is illegal and will be thrown out by the court," he said, adding that they may have forgotten about the IRP rules.

For more information about the permit, including instructions on how to apply for one, go to http://dmv.dc.gov/info/trippermit.shtm.