Metro Transit's popular and often packed "Bucky Bus" shuttles on football Saturdays seem over.

The city, UW-Madison and others, in fact, are looking to the private sector to provide the shuttles for Badger games and other special events.

Metro's shuttles, which serve football games, Rhythm & Booms, state high school sports tournaments and more, are threatened due to new federal rules that limit how public transit systems can provide such services.

The Federal Transit Administration rules, effective April 20, are designed to protect the interests of private bus companies that may provide shuttles. The rules say public transit systems should only operate regularly scheduled service open to the general public where a standard fare is charged.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on Monday met with top Metro and legal staff to explore options.

"The mayor is very unhappy the Bush administration made this rule change," Cieslewicz spokesman George Twigg said. "The rule is crafted in such a way as to make it quite difficult to let any public transit authority provide these kind of shuttles."