PENSACOLA, Fla. Already fighting a two-front battle over charter rules violations by the local public transit agency and a non-profit group, a small Florida bus operator is gearing up for a third.

Thomas McKean, president of Beach Boy Trolley, said if he's not satisfied with the results of the pending actions, he will file a new complaint with federal regulators under new charter rules the Federal Transit Agency plans to put in effect April 30.

"It's time to take off the gloves and go bare knuckled," he said of his dispute with Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT).

He said he plans to have the new complaint ready to go the same day the new charter service rules take effect, which would probably make him the first operator in the nation to test the reworked regulations that were completed last month by the FTA after nearly two years of work.

McKean claims ECAT is violating both the existing and new rules by using its trolleys for charter service, and for allowing a "sham" transportation company to use them for other charters as well.

He maintains he has lost about $60,000 in charter revenues because of illegal charters done by ECAT and Winterfest, a nonprofit festival event-planning organization that county and transit officials claim also is a transportation business.

Suit upsets applecart

Beach Boy went after ECAT last August by filing an extensive charter rules violation complaint against the transit agency with the FTA. Less than a month later, Winterfest, which was cited in the complaint as leasing trolleys from Escambia County and ECAT and then using them for illegal charters, filed a suit in Florida Circuit Court claiming the FTA complaint was frivolous.

McKean said filing of the suit came while he and ECAT officials were attempting to work out their differences. He said the transit agency had floated a settlement offer that included paying him the money he lost, but it was pulled back when the suit was filed.

"Now they won't return my phone calls and they won't even talk to me," he said, adding that he has been told that county officials have passed the word that no one in any official capacity is to speak with him about the situation.

Still, McKean has done well in the two cases so far.

The southeast regional administrator for the FTA decided that the complaint has merit and has urged the two sides to attempt to resolve the issues before turning it into a formal investigation. McKean said he has been told that ECAT has not responded to letters from the FTA and he is now asking regulators to move ahead with an investigation.

Prevailing in court

In the lawsuit, McKean has won five motions, including three his lawyers filed and two that were filed by Winterfest.

Among them was one that initially went against Beach Boy at the outset of the legal action. McKean, believing the suit did not have merit, did not bother to answer the complaint at the outset, which resulted in a default judgment being issued against him.

Shortly after that ruling was issued, McKean filed a motion to have the judgment set aside and it was granted by Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Rasmussen, which effectively put the case back at the beginning. Since then, the judge has decided four other motions, all in favor of McKean.

"They haven't won a thing yet," he said.

Meanwhile, he is preparing for a trial, but he fully expects Winterfest to settle the case before it advances that far.