ROCHESTER, N.Y. A contentious, high-stakes feud between a public transit authority and a private school bus company over which one should be allowed to provide school transportation for more than 9,000 Rochester high school students has tilted back to the transit agency.

U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer has ruled that the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority could legally operate the school routes as part of its regular public transportation service.

The decision effectively ended a cease and desist order against the transit agency the Federal Transit Administration issued in October after determining that RGRTA's school transportation program violated charter service rules that prohibit public carriers from competing with private bus companies. (See Nov. 1 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

The FTA order had cleared the way for Laidlaw Education Services to resume operating the service that it had provided in past years, although a temporary injunction issued by the court earlier had blocked the company from actually doing it.

The court ruling stunned the private bus industry and touched off concerns in some quarters the judge may have bowed to enormous local political pressure to side with the school district over federal transit regulators and the private operator.

"It seems fairly clear that there was immense local political pressure to decide the case in this manner," suggested one motorcoach official who followed the case closely.

Larimers ruling came in a federal lawsuit filed by the RGRTA and the Rochester City School District against the FTA, Laidlaw and the United Food and Commercial Workers District Local One, the labor union that represents Laidlaw's drivers.

They suit contended the FTA was arbitrary and capricious in its determination the RGRTA violated the charter rules and that its decision actually was in conflict with the rules.

Larimer agreed with both claims.

"The FTA went for the clear language of the statute by inferring an overreaching intent on the part of Congress to protect the school bus industry, and then relying on the inference to effectively broaden and rewrite the scope of the statue," he wrote in his decision. "That was improper."

While the judge tossed the cease and desist order, he left the temporary injunction in place until March 24 so the RGRTA could make some adjustments to regular routes that serve the high school students and establish express routes that will bypass downtown Rochester and eliminate the need for students to transfer to other buses during their commute.

The fight between RGRTA and Laidlaw began at the beginning of the 2006-07 school year when the school district moved up its high school starting time by one hour. Laidlaw, which was providing the high school transportation service at the time, was unable to continue the service because it was transporting elementary students at the same time and it did not have enough buses or drivers to meet the earlier start time for the high school runs.

The RGRTA, which also operated a number of school bus routes for the school district, offered to take over the high school routes and later signed a contract with the Rochester City School District to do so.

Laidlaw and the labor union responded by filing a complaint with the FTA, claiming the transit agencys high school service violated federal charter service rules. The FTA agreed the routes violated the rules, but allowed the RGRTA to propose a new plan that it believed would meet the requirement of the rules.

The FTA, however, said the new plan, which included the express routes, also would be in violation of the rules and issued the cease in desist order to prevent the transit agency from operating any of the high school routes.

The RGRTA responded with the lawsuit and won the temporary injunction that allowed it to continue operating the school routes while the case was being litigated.

Reaction to the court decision was pretty much as expected with the private bus industry complaining bitterly about it and the transit agency and school district praising it.

"It's a terrible decision," said Ken Presley, vice president of the United Motorcoach Association. "A lot of this falls on the FTA for allowing this mischief to go on for so long."

UMA lobbyist Becky Weber called it a "huge blow" to the school bus and private bus industries.

Mark Aesch, chief executive of the RGRTA, said the decision was a victory for the students who will be able to continue riding public transit buses and the taxpayers who will save as much as $12 million in annual costs.

"We are very happy with today's ruling and with the knowledge that this matter has been resolved in the best interest of our students," added Superintendent of Schools Jean-Claude Brizard.

Further legal action in the case is being seen as possible.