WASHINGTON The United Motorcoach Association has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Transit Administration accusing New Jersey Transit of violating the charter service rule by permitting one of its biggest contractors, Academy Express, to use NJ Transit-owned buses to provide charters for The Barclays golf tournament in late August.

"On Aug. 24, 2013, certain buses owned by New Jersey Transit and operated by their contractor, Academy Express Inc., were observed continuously providing shuttle service, using buses clearly identified as owned by New Jersey Transit, from designated parking decks to the Barclays Golf Tournament prearranged and paid for by the event organizers," says the complaint.

"Witnesses estimate 24 buses owned by New Jersey Transit were used for the special event. However, an exact count was not possible as buses were continuously in transit during the period observed," the complaint added.

Whole sections of the FTA-administered charter service rule spell out in great detail how service -- like that identified in the UMA complaint -- violates the rule up one side and down the other.

It was "irregular" service; it was "paid for in whole or in part by a third party"; it was not provided "under an exception" granted by the FTA; no notice about the service was sent to other private charter providers, giving them an opportunity to compete for the work, and the charters were not part of New Jersey Transits "regularly scheduled service."

Another section of the rule makes clear that public transit agencies receiving U.S. taxpayer money to buy and maintain their buses are not to run those buses in competition with private charter operators. To do so is a violation of federal transit laws.

"Using federal assets to compete against private operators without obtaining an overriding exception (from the Federal Transit Administration) violates the rule," said one industry expert who has been involved in the issue.

While the buses observed at The Barclays tournament had Academy livery, they also had USDOT-style lettering that clearly indicated they were owned by the transit agency and operated by Academy.

The UMA complaint contains a number of photographs of the buses and their USDOT-style markings.

Academy, based in Hoboken, N.J., is the nations fourth-largest private motorcoach operator and the largest family-owned coach company.

Also, it is likely New Jersey Transits largest private bus contractor, operating scores of commuter coaches for the agency, the fourth-largest transit bus system in the U.S. (behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago).

There have been operator accusations in the past that Academy was using New Jersey Transit-owned buses to unfairly compete with private bus companies, but the UMA complaint is believed to be the first to be filed with the FTA against New Jersey Transit, implicating Academy.

The issue also is thought to be festering in other parts of the country, with a scattering of private operators able to undercut their competition by using buses (1) owned by public transit agencies or state governments, (2) paid for with federal tax dollars, and (3) contracted to the private operators for public transit service.

Often, the practice takes place on weekends and other off-hours when the buses are not needed for scheduled public transit runs.

In some states, the private operators dont have to pay state licensing or registration fees on the buses because they are owned by the state or a public transit agency.

The UMA complaint also says that as a result of the charter service provided at The Barclays, using the New Jersey Transit buses, one of its members, Service Bus Co. of Yonkers, N.Y., "incurred financial and irreparable harm" because it wasnt allowed to compete for "this valuable, high-profile contract."

The Barclays is one of professional golfs premier events and it was conducted Aug. 22-25 at the Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City.

The top 125 FedEx Cup professional golfers competed for a total of $8 million, with the winner, Aussie Adam Scott, taking home $1.44 million.

A spokesman for New Jersey Transit, Bill Smith, declined to comment on the UMA complaint, saying only the agency does not provide charter bus service.

However, information distributed by event organizers -- to individuals and groups needing tournament transportation -- contained the phone number for the New Jersey Transit Customer Service Group Sales office.