Motorcoach operators need to become more aware of the activities of their local public transit agencies if they ever expect to gain an upper hand in their running battle over charter work performed by the local transit system.

Thats the advice of Gladys Gillis, owner of Starline Transportation in Seattle, board member of the United Motorcoach Association, and player in the industrys effort to bring an end to the practice of transit agencies taking charter business that legally belongs to private operators.

'It should be relevant in every region this year as the new charter rules roll out,' she said, referring to new charter bus regulations the Federal Transit Administration plans to issue.

The motorcoach industry helped draft the regulations as part of a negotiated rulemaking process and some participants believe the final version of the regulations will give the industry some relief in its run-ins with transit agencies over charters.

Still, Gillis, who served on the rule-making committee, warned that even after the new regulations become effective, motorcoach operators will need to remain vigilant in keeping tabs on the activities of transit agencies.

A good way to do it, she suggested, is for the industry to develop a formula or game plan that will guide operators across the country on how to become involved in the transit planning process in their area, which would give them a front-row seat in the operations of their transit agency.

Regional or metropolitan transit planning boards, commissions and authorities they come in several different names develop short- and long-term transit plans and discuss everything from funding to budgets to route structures.

They generally are made up of representatives of the various communities the transit agency serves, although many of them also have private citizens, state officials and others as part of their make up.

Their meetings are open to the public and they are required by the FTA and the Federal Highway Administration to give private carriers an opportunity to be involved in the early stages of the plan development and update processes.

Gillis envisions a game plan applicable to operators everywhere that details how they can become involved in the planning process, the type of activities they should look for, the questions they should ask when attending meetings, and steps they should take if they discover charter violations.

She suggested that elements of the plan could include recommending operators pay special attention to the revenue sources of their transit agency -- other than the routine federal, state and local financial support they receive.

'As they look at each line of the revenue report, they need to ask, what is being paid for,' she said.

She said if a line item shows that a business is paying the transit agency money, it could be for an employee shuttle that the transit agency disguised as a 'new' transit route.

Or, if a school, university or professional football team is paying for augmented service on game days, that would be a third-party transaction and should be a charter run by a private carrier, not public transit.

When something suspicious or amiss shows up, she stressed, the operators would be advised on how to try to take over the work from the transit agency or how to file a formal complaint with the FTA.

UMA agrees that operators should be involved in the planning and other activities of their transit agencies, and they should not be expecting the new charter rules to solve their problems with transit agencies entirely.

'Although the new rules (will) afford increased protection for charter operators, they basically only afford that protection if the operators are engaged in their local community transportation needs,' said Ken Presley, the associations vice president of industry relations.

Presley, in fact, has been taking slide shows to state motorcoach associations around the country, urging them to become more engaged with their local transit agencies, including getting involved in the planning process and attending meetings of the governing bodies.

'The big investment for operators is time and it may prove frustrating for the average motorcoach operator in the beginning, but in the long haul the investment will yield profitable business,' he said.