In 2013, Mount Holyoke College graduate Tamanna Ahmad launched her business with a Toyota Sienna van and a dream: to provide quick and affordable transportation between the Five Colleges in Western Massachusetts and Boston.

Her company, VanGO, began as a one-woman operation run out of her parents' home in Woburn, with Ahmad personally driving students along the Massachusetts Turnpike as word of the business spread on social media.

But in early 2017 she ran into roadblocks from state regulators, who suspended her operations for failing to have required permits after they were tipped off by her main competitor: the Peter Pan bus company, which has long been the main source of transit from Western to Eastern Mass.

In an interview, Ahmad acknowledged that she did not know all the rules she had to follow when she launched her business. But she said that Peter Pan had painted a target on her back - both for actual violations and frivolous complaints that were later dismissed by state authorities.

VanGO eventually complied with state regulations and gained approval to restart business, but not before about two months of delay that strained the company's finances, Ahmad said.

"What was painful about this process was we were basically pushed to the brink of shutdown waiting for this to take place," she said. "When you're tiny and you're trying to start something up and you are forced to stop for that amount of time, it's pretty detrimental."

In an email, Peter Pan Bus Lines CEO Peter Picknelly told MassLive it is standard to keep regulators informed of other businesses that may not be following the rules.

"Once we became aware of the van operation - we asked the DPU if they were properly permitted and licensed - we were told they were not," Picknelly wrote. "This is common practice in our regulated industry."

A DPU spokesperson said the agency frequently responds to inquiries from transit operators.

When Ahmad was student at Mount Holyoke, she found common frustration with other students about the limited options to travel to Boston, she said. While Peter Pan offers regular service with larger capacity from South Hadley to Boston, the trips take three hours with stops in Springfield, Holyoke and Worcester.

"Whenever I wanted to go home, I found it to be quite a challenge, as did anyone else who was going to school in that area," Ahmad said. "The only way to go was the bus."

After Ahmad graduated, she earned an MBA at Babson College and decided to turn her undergraduate pet peeve into a business. She bought a van, marketed on Facebook and began driving members of the Pioneer Valley academic community to and from Boston - students going home to see families, people attending job interviews and job fairs, assistant professors traveling across the state for classes.

"It worked," she said. "There was a demand for it."

Ahmad expanded her business to a regular schedule, offering rides Thursday through Sunday between Alewife Station in Cambridge, Mt. Holyoke, Smith College and UMass Amherst. During peak weekend hours VanGO's trips are $28, compared to $32 for Peter Pan, though the bus company offers midweek rides that VanGO does not.

But in February of last year, Ahmad got a cease and desist letter from the state's Department of Public Utilities. She had failed to apply for necessary scheduled transportation permits and was barred from operating.

"They effectively said that you don't have state authority to operate," she said. "Obviously we want to abide by everything we are asked to do. We just didn't know at that time."

Ahmad began acquiring the necessary safety equipment, insurance, and permissions from the cities where she stopped. But, as she was attempting to comply with the requirements, the state further said she had to get permission from each of the colleges on her route - a step not in the department's initial instructions to her.

"That's when it started to feel a little suspicious," she said.

Acting on a hunch, Ahmad filed a public records request for emails to DPU about VanGO, which showed that her company had not attracted state scrutiny by accident. Rather, Picknelly had tipped off the agency to her violations and had asked to be kept abreast of their investigation into VanGO.

On Feb. 13 Picknelly emailed Brian Cristy, the head of DPU's Transportation Oversight Divison, alerting him to Peter Pan's new unlicensed competitor.

"My question is: Is this service regulated by the MA D.T.E. and is Vango properly authorized?" Picknelly wrote.

Cristy responded 14 minutes later, saying he would "investigate and advise."

Picknelly also raised safety concerns, writing that he had called VanGO and been told a worrying detail about their procedure.

"They said most people put luggage in the aisles (seems dangerous) but a seat can be removed if necessary for luggage," Picknelly wrote to Cristy.

Ahmad said she remembered that phone conversation, but denied placing luggage in the aisles of the van.

"That's actually not true and I don't know where he got that from," she said.

DPU quickly determined that VanGo did not have the proper permits and sent out a cease and desist. Picknelly maintained an interest in VanGo's application, asking Cristy if the startup would have to be ADA compliant - not if its service stayed within Massachusetts, Cristy wrote - and asking the director to keep him informed about the company's upcoming hearing.

Picknelly also considered formally opposing VanGo's application but did not do so, according to the emails and DPU hearing records.

"I am not sure whether Peter Pan would oppose the application of VanGo or not," Picknelly wrote to Cristy. "Certainly, the entire service area advertised by VanGo is currently being served by Peter Pan Bus Lines. From all points listed, we operate extensive service 7-days/week with added service on weekends."

Ahmad won approval to operate in April after changing her business model from a fixed schedule, which has more rigorous regulation, to an on-demand service. Now, customers fill out a form on VanGo's website indicating when they need rides, and Ahmad builds a custom schedule to fit each week's demand.

Peter Pan continued to keep an eye on its competition after VanGo began operating with the state's authorization. In November, Peter Pan's marketing director emailed Picknelly highlighting VanGo's promotion of its service.

Picknelly forwarded the ad to Cristy, asking if VanGo had obtained the permits needed to operate. Picknelly's inquiry circulated to DPU staff, who double checked that VanGo was not running on a fixed schedule.

"Please let me know what you find out," DPU staffer Elizabeth Leaman wrote. "Peter Pan is concerned that this is running as a fixed route service and she only has a charter certificate."

After DPU determined that Ahmad was abiding by the terms of her license, Cristy told Picknelly that VanGo was following the rules.

Now, the coast appears to clear for the startup -- and Ahmad does not intend to give her competition another chance to block her business.

"We dotted our I's and crossed our T's," she said.