INDIANA, Pa. Another trolley bus charter service operated by a public transit agency has been pitched -- kicking and screaming -- into the trash heap.

Indiana County (Pa.) Transit Authority operated trolley buses for 11 years, violating federal charter rules the whole time. Finally, Fullington Trailways of Clearfield, Pa., had had enough and complained courteously but resolutely -- to the agency, demanding it stop the illegal service.

"You have to be firm with these people," said Aerial Fullington Weisman, president and CEO of the coach company that was founded by her parents.

In seeking to halt the trolleys, Mrs. Weisman resisted pressure from tourism officials, lobbyists and others, pointing out to each of them that what the transit authority was doing was illegal pure and simple.

The transit agency, known locally as IndiGO, primarily rented its trolley buses to local brides to cart their wedding parties from churches to receptions.

In grudgingly and reluctantly giving up the service, the executive director of the transit agency, Jerry Blair, told a local newspaper his agency had been "forced" to halt the service by the actions of "the motorcoach industry," and its two trade associations, working in league with the Federal Transit Administration.

Blair clearly implied that the FTA and the coach industry had propounded unreasonable rules that made trolley bus rental by public transit agencies illegal.

Then, in a bit of double speak, he suggested the federal rules were unclear. Yet, at the same time, he admitted his agency had been resisting for years -- FTA efforts to get him to stop the service.

Of course, the FTA charter service rules are not new, are not ambiguous to most transit agencies, and have been part of the public transit regulatory landscape far longer than IndiGO has been operating its illegal service.

"The board and staff of IndiGO are extremely sad that we have been forced, permanently, to halt all trolley rentals immediately," said Blair.

IndiGO would never have terminated the trolley rentals by its own decision, Blair said, but the appropriateness of the trolley rentals was challenged by a "private transportation operator" (Fullington), and IndiGO received no support for its defense from the FTA.

"The Federal Transit Administration, as well as the motorcoach industry -represented by two major associations -- has formulated regulations that make it impossible for us to legally provide any sort of private transportation," Blair said. "For years there have been regulations that have caused issues about what is legal and not legal for transit authorities to do. ... The type of (trolley rental) service we were giving is no longer acceptable."

(Correction: It has never been acceptable.)

At the core of the opposition, Blair said, is the fact that IndiGO, as a public transit authority, in some cases uses federal money to purchase equipment. "Not a penny of federal money" was used to purchase the trolleys, Blair said, but the IndiGO trolleys are stored and maintained in facilities built with federal dollars.

Blair admitted that IndiGO had long resisted "suggestions" by FTA inspectors that the transit authority drop its trolley rentals. He went on to explain he didnt halt the service because IndiGO never received a "cease-and-desist letter" from the FTA and because there was a steady demand for the rentals.

"The FTA believes we are not compliant," said Blair, and to avoid exposing IndiGO to "crushing penalties that would damage IndiGO permanently," the transit authority leadership has decided to immediately eliminate the trolley rentals.

"We're out of options now," said Blair. "We don't like it. We don't think its a good thing. We think it hurts families. ... But there's nothing we can do. ... Regulations are regulations."

For half the year, the IndiGO trolleys were popular vehicles. "From May to October it was rare for them to be sitting still on Saturdays," said Blair.

He estimated the trolleys -- after deducting operating costs -- generated a profit of about $18,000 annually. That money, according to Blair, was used to lower the costs of providing service on IndiGO's fixed routes.

Mrs. Weisman said her company has been reluctant to blow the whistle on area transit agencies that are violating federal charter rules because it has had long-time, cordial relations with most of them.

However, in asking the public agencies to halt their illegal services, Mrs. Wisman has approached them with both an iron fist and a smile on her face. She's taking on another area transit agency and has yet another in her sights.

As Victor Parra, president and CEO of the United Motorcoach Association, told Mrs. Weisman: "We really need more folks like you to take a stand. Transit companies around the country have been performing these kind of services - charter work - with very little or no opposition from operators. On behalf of all private operators in this country, thank you."

At the same time, however, Mrs. Weisman is concerned about possible fallout. She said one transit system has been charging a dollar a mile for its charter services. She thinks potential customers will suffer significant sticker shock when informed of the real-world prices that private operators must charge.

Now that it's out of the trolley rental business, Blair says IndiGO will likely advertise and sell the older of its two trolleys, and perhaps keep the newer one for use on IndiGO's fixed routes and in parades and similar events.

Good use of a $250,000 asset.