INDIANAPOLIS -- An atheist group that recently won its fight to buy ad space for signs on Bloomington city buses was denied in Indianapolis.

The group, known as the Indiana Bus Campaign, filed a federal lawsuit that said Bloomington Transit's policy of not allowing controversial material violated the First Amendment.

Before the case got to court, the transit company agreed to allow the ads, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

The same group is spreading its message on buses in South Bend, but IndyGo told them that it wouldn't allow the ad.

"We just indicated that what they were presenting to us wasn't fitting within our board-approved transit guidelines," said IndyGo President and CEO Michael Terry. "They just inquired. This isn't just a public forum for anyone to advertise."

Henry Karlson, professor emeritus at the Indiana University School of Law, said that IndyGo's guidelines for what is considered controversial is very specific, and that could make a difference if there were a legal battle.

"You can do this as long as you have an objective criteria that applies to everyone and has a legitimate state interest," Karlson said.

Terry stressed that the buses aren't moving walls for anyone to purchase.

"Sex, drugs, alcohol, religion, controversial, political are areas we just don't get into as far as advertising," he said.

The ad, which says "You Can Be Good Without God," stirred plenty of controversy in Bloomington. The agreement between the transit company and the atheist group ends the federal lawsuit.

A group spokesman told 6News that the group doesn't have any plans to try to put ads in other cities because it doesn't have the money to pay for them.