WASHINGTON D.C. The first quarterly reporting deadline for public transit agencies that provided charter bus service under the new federal charter service rule has come and gone with 52 of the nations 550 agencies filing reports.

Many of the transit agencies submitted reports saying they did not do any charter work or did only one or two small jobs during the April through June reporting period.

According to the FTA rule that took effect April 30, public transit agencies that provide charter service under one of four allowable exemptions are required to file detailed reports about the work within 30 days of the end of each quarter. The deadline for filing the first reports was July 30.

Those that did not do any charter work during a reporting period are not required to file reports.

Under the new rule, transit agencies may legally provide charters if they obtain a special waiver from the Federal Transit Administration, if no private charter company is willing to handle the job, or if the charter involves transporting government officials or members of qualified human service organizations. The agencies also may lease their buses to private carriers for charters.

Among the notable reports was one filed by Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority in New York, which reported doing 16 charters in June that the transit agency said private carriers were not interesting in doing. The agency received revenue of $2,671 for the work.

Indianapolis Public Transportation reporting using an FTA waiver to run shuttles between the airport and downtown and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500 auto race. The agency reported picking up $128,000 in revenue for the service.

The Lane Transit District in Oregon obtained an FTA waiver to handle shuttle work for the seven-day Olympic trials in Eugene and collected $55,440 for the work.

In Georgia, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority ran 63 charters, most of them short trips for human service agencies, which are exempt from the charter rule. Revenue for the work totaled $3,100.

The deadline for the next reporting period is Oct. 30.

Because the Federal Transit Administration has made it clear its depending on private operators to police the accuracy of the reports submitted by transit agencies, operators are urged to review the reports filed by agencies in their areas.

They should check to make sure a transit agency is accurate when it says it could not find willing and able operators to handle a charter. The FTA Website contains information about filing complaints.

The quarterly reports can be found on the FTA Website by going to http://ftateamweb.fta.dot.gov/fta-flash2b.html and clicking on "team reports" and then "charter report."

The transit systems are listed only by their FTA ID numbers and not by name so it will take patient searching to find a particular agency.