ATLANTA -- A Florida public transit agency violated federal charter service rules when it hooked up with a nonprofit organization to provide transportation service for special events, the Federal Transit Administration has ruled.

However, in making the ruling, FTA Regional Administrator Yvette G. Taylor opted not to penalize Escambia County Area Transit of Pensacola because there did not appear to be a series of repeat violations by the agency.

"Because FTA finds that a pattern of violations has not been established by complainant, there is no basis to justify the imposition of a penalty," she wrote in her decision.

Escambia County Area Transit could have been fined and directed to compensate Beach Boy Trolley of Pensacola, which filed the complaint with the FTA last year over violations that it said took place in 2006.

Beach Boy contends it lost between $30,000 and $60,000 when the transit agency illegally contracted with Winterfest, a nonprofit festival event-planning organization, to shuttle people to community events held in downtown Pensacola.

The contested agreement involved Escambia County Area Transit providing Winterfest with a used van so it could appear to qualify as a charter company, leasing it a half-dozen trolleys so it could run the shuttle service and giving it a $20,000 donation to help operate the shuttles.

The case was processed under the old charter service rules, which required private bus companies to own at least one bus or van and prohibited federally funded transit agencies from leasing vehicles for transportation purposes to businesses that did not have federal authority to transport people.

Taylor held in her opinion that Escambia County Area Transit and Escambia County, which operates the transit agency, had a long and close relationship with Winterfest and should have known from the outset that the event planner did not qualify as a charter company when it leased it the trolleys.

"In fact, respondent (ECAT) admits in its response that Winterfest had not been issued a DOT (Department of Transportation) number authorizing it to operate motor vehicles for hire for the transportation of passengers," she said.

Beach Boy owner Thomas McKean said he was pleased with the ruling, but disappointed Escambia County Area Transit was not fined or ordered to pay the company the money it made by running the shuttles. "I would at least like to get the money that I lost," he said.

The amount of revenue the charters produced was not determined and Taylor noted that Escambia County Area Transit and the county were not counting on earning money from the shuttles, but rather benefiting through increased tax revenues from visitor spending.

Several private charter companies, including Beach Boy, had been providing the special event service before 2006 when Escambia County Area Transit decided to use Winterfest to operate the shuttles.

McKean said he plans to have his attorney review the FTA decision to determine if it might be possible to file a damage suit against Escambia County Area Transit in an effort to recover some of the revenue he lost by not being allowed to run the shuttles.

Hes already tangled up in a state lawsuit that Escambia County Area Transit and Winterfest filed against him last year, claiming the charter rules violation complaint he filed with the FTA was frivolous. It was not immediately known what will happen to that action now that the FTA has ruled against the transit agency and event planning organization.

Meanwhile, McKean said he plans to keep a close watch on Escambia County Area Transit and Winterfest this summer to see if they attempt to operate a shuttle service to the beaches as they have in past years. "If ECAT is going to be leasing any trolleys, they better do it right," he added. "If not, Ill file another complaint under the new charter rules."

The charter service rules were redone by the FTA last year and became effective April 30.