SOUTH BEND — Parking in a grassy field, hopping a Transpo bus and riding to the stadium has been a Notre Dame game-day ritual for years.

And, apparently, it still will be.

After a saga in which it appeared federal regulations might prevent Transpo from providing a series of game-day shuttles, officials announced this week that a lack of private sector interest in providing the shuttles has placed the job back in Transpo’s hands for the rest of the season.

Right where it should be, Transpo general manager Rick Brown said.

"This is great for us, for the fans, for everyone," he said.

Rules announced this spring by the Federal Transit Administration made it mandatory for publicly funded transit companies like Transpo to offer any charter or special service routes up to the private sector. If no private company was interested, then public transit companies could apply for an exemption to operate the services.

And for Notre Dame football weekends, that service is a big job. For the game-day shuttle services, including campus parking shuttles, special buses to the airport, downtown and nearby hotels, Transpo usually provides rides to more than 22,000 on a typical football Saturday

After Transpo’s public posting of the service in July, two companies notified the FTA of an interest in the job — Indian Trails of Owosso, Mich., and Alexis Luxury Tours of Mount Prospect, Ill. But by a deadline this week, both companies had declined to provide the service.

Notre Dame assistant athletics director Josh Berlo said the university was glad to have this part of football season preparations sorted out.

"We are certainly pleased to have brought this to a resolution," he said, "especially considering the brief period of time we had to work with. And we are certainly looking forward to continuing our strong relationship with Transpo for another year."

The announcement may not be the end of the story, however. Brown said that, to comply with the regulations, Transpo must provide notification of any special service it would like to provide, in order to give private companies a chance to bid.

That means that everything from the holiday Santa Express service to shuttles for Mishawaka’s Summerfest will have to be posted every year.

And, yes, that includes the Notre Dame football shuttle services. Every year.

"My staff isn’t too happy about it," Brown said. "But now we know what we are up against.

"We’ll start the process earlier next year," he said.