EUGENE, Org. A big-time college football game here has become a show piece for how private motorcoach companies and public transit agencies can work together.

And, it gave doubters in the public transit sector a look at how well a private carrier can pull off a large-scale shuttle operation for a major sporting event.

Starline Luxury Coaches of Seattle earned kudos for its handling of the shuttle service for the annual Civil War football game between rivals Oregon and Oregon State University.

"We were very pleased with the way it was all handled," said Vicki Strand, who manages special event services for the host University of Oregon team.

She said the university had to turn to the private sector because the game, which was won by Oregon 37 to 31, had been moved to a Thursday night from its traditional Saturday afternoon and the regular shuttle service providers were unable to work the game.

"We hadnt had a weekday game in about 13 years, so it was a challenge for us," she noted.

The university had been using Lane Transit District and First Student for the shuttle service for many years, but because the game was on a weekday all of their buses were tied up on their regular transit and school transportation runs.

Lane Transit turned to Starline for help and the company agreed to round up enough buses to provide the service, according to Robert Ferguson, Starlines vice president of sales and marketing.

He said five other private carriers were recruited to join the operation, which allowed Starline to bring together a full contingent of drivers and a fleet of 40 coaches to transport people to the game over a four-hour period and 80 buses to return them to the parking lots immediately after the game.

Ferguson said Lane Transit agreed to take on a role in the 8,000-person movement, too, and used its experience and expertise to help coordinate the effort.

"They were willing to do everything and anything to make it successful," he added. "It was an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can work together."

Andy Vobora of Lane Transit said he was happy to help and pleased with the way the entire operation ran.

"Overall, it went pretty smoothly and they were excellent to work with," he said.

Vobora said there were bumps in the road, but that was to be expected because it was the first time out for the private carriers and their drivers.

"We all learned a lot from it and thatll help us if we do it again," he said.

Glady Gillis of Starline said the lessons she learned will become part of the game plan the next time her company gets an opportunity to provide the shuttle service for the university.

Among improvements that will be made are having more ticket sellers in the largest parking lots and assigning more stadium pickup spaces after the game to coaches serving those lots, she said.

Lane Transit, meanwhile, now will be waiting to see what role, if any, the transit agency will play in shuttle service operations for the university in the future.

Although the federal charter service rule provides that such shuttle service should be done by private carriers, none apparently has bid for the service in the past, leaving the work, instead, to the transit agency.

"Well be sending out our service list for next year in a couple of weeks and well have to wait and see if there is any interest from any of the private companies," he said.