New York Laws
Title 11-B - Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
1299-HH - Special Powers of the Authority.

§ 1299-hh. Special powers of the authority. In order to effectuate the
purposes of this title: 1. The authority may acquire, by purchase, gift,
grant, transfer, contract or lease, or condemnation, any transportation
facility, including port or related facilities wholly or partially
within the Rochester-Genesee regional transportation district or any
part thereof, or the use thereof, and may enter into any joint service
arrangements as hereinafter provided. Any such acquisition or joint
service arrangement shall be authorized only by resolution of the
authority approved by not less than a majority vote of the authority.

2. The authority may on such terms and conditions as the authority may
determine necessary, convenient or desirable itself establish,
construct, effectuate, operate, maintain, renovate, improve, extend or
repair any such transportation facility, or may provide for such
establishment, construction, effectuation, operation, maintenance,
renovation, improvement, extension or repair by contract, lease, or
other arrangement on such terms as the authority may deem necessary,
convenient or desirable with any person, including but not limited to
any common carrier or freight forwarder, the state, any state agency,
the federal government, any other state or agency or instrumentality
thereof, any public authority of this or any other state or any
political subdivision or municipality of the state. In connection with
the operation of any such transportation facility, the authority may
establish, construct, effectuate, operate, maintain, renovate, improve,
extend or repair or may provide by contract, lease or other arrangement
for the establishment, construction, effectuation, operation,
maintenance, renovation, improvement, extension or repair of any related
services and activities it deems necessary, convenient or desirable,
including but not limited to the transportation and storage of freight
and the United States mail, feeder and connecting transportation,
parking areas, transportation centers, ports, stations and related
facilities.

3. The authority may establish, levy and collect or cause to be
established, levied and collected and, in the case of a joint service
arrangement, join with others in the establishment, levy and collection
of such fares, tolls, rentals, rates, charges and other fees as it may
deem necessary, convenient or desirable for the use and operation of any
transportation facility and related services operated by the authority
or by a subsidiary corporation of the authority or under contract, lease
or other arrangement, including joint service arrangements, with the
authority. Any such fares, tolls, rentals, rates, charges or other fees
for the transportation of passengers shall be established and changed
only if approved by resolution of the authority adopted by not less than
a majority vote of the authority and only after a public hearing,
provided however, that fares, tolls, rentals, rates, charges or other
fees for the transportation of passengers on any transportation facility
which are in effect at the time that the then owner of such
transportation facility becomes a subsidiary corporation of the
authority or at the time that operation of such transportation facility
is commenced by the authority or is commenced under contract, lease or
other arrangement including joint service arrangements, with the
authority may be continued in effect without such a hearing. Such fares,
tolls, rentals, rates, charges and other fees shall be established as
may in the judgment of the authority be necessary to maintain the
combined operations of the authority and its subsidiary corporations on
a self-sustaining basis. The said operations shall be deemed to be on a
self-sustaining basis as required by this title, when the authority is
able to pay or cause to be paid from revenue and any other funds or
property actually available to the authority and its subsidiary

corporations (a) as the same shall become due, the principal of and
interest on the bonds and notes and other obligations of the authority
and of such subsidiary corporations, together with the maintenance of
proper reserves therefor, (b) the cost and expense of keeping the
properties and assets of the authority and its subsidiary corporations
in good condition and repair, and (c) the capital and operating expenses
of the authority and its subsidiary corporations. The authority may
contract with the holders of bonds and notes with respect to the
exercise of the powers authorized by this section.

4. The authority may establish and, in the case of joint service
arrangements, join with others in the establishment of such schedules
and standards of operations and such other rules and regulations
including but not limited to rules and regulations governing the conduct
and safety of the public as it may deem necessary, convenient or
desirable for the use and operation of any transportation facility and
related services operated by the authority or under contract, lease or
other arrangement, including joint service arrangements, with the
authority. Such rules and regulations governing the conduct and safety
of the public shall be filed with the department of state in the manner
provided by section one hundred two of the executive law. In the case of
any conflict between any such rule or regulation of the authority
governing the conduct or safety of the public and any local law,
ordinance, rule or regulation, such rule or regulation of the authority
shall prevail. Violation of any such rule or regulation of the authority
governing the conduct or the safety of the public in or upon any
facility of the authority shall constitute an offense and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisonment for not
more than thirty days or both.

5. The authority may acquire, hold, own, lease, establish, construct,
effectuate, operate, maintain, renovate, improve, extend or repair any
of its facilities through, and cause any one or more of its powers,
duties, functions or activities to be exercised or performed by, one or
more wholly owned subsidiary corporations of the authority and may
transfer to or from any such corporation any moneys, real property or
other property for any of the purposes of this title. The directors or
members of each such subsidiary corporation shall be the same persons
holding the offices of members of the authority. Each such subsidiary
corporation and any of its property, functions and activities shall have
all of the privileges, immunities, tax exemptions and other exemptions
of the authority and of the authority's property, functions and
activities. Each such subsidiary corporation shall be subject to the
restrictions and limitations to which the authority may be subject. Each
such subsidiary corporation shall be subject to suit in accordance with
section twelve hundred ninety-nine-qq of this title. The employees of
any such subsidiary corporation, except those who are also employees of
the authority, shall not be deemed employees of the authority.

If the authority shall determine that one or more of its subsidiary
corporations should be in the form of a public benefit corporation, it
shall create each such public benefit corporation by executing and
filing with the secretary of state a certificate of incorporation, which
may be amended from time to time by filing, which shall set forth the
name of such public benefit subsidiary corporation, its duration, the
location of its principal office, and any or all of the purposes of
acquiring, owning, leasing, establishing, constructing, effectuating,
operating, maintaining, renovating, improving, extending or repairing
one or more facilities of the authority. Each such public benefit
subsidiary corporation shall be a body politic and corporate and shall
have all those powers vested in the authority by the provisions of this

title which the authority shall determine to include in its certificate
of incorporation except the power to contract indebtedness.

Whenever any state, political subdivision, municipality, commission,
agency, officer, department, board, division or person is authorized and
empowered for any of the purposes of this title to co-operate and enter
into agreements with the authority such state, political subdivision,
municipality, commission, agency, officer, department, board, division
or person shall have the same authorization and power for any of such
purposes to co-operate and enter into agreements with a subsidiary
corporation of the authority.

6. The authority, in its own name or in the name of the state, may
apply for and receive and accept grants of property, money and services
and other assistance offered or made available to it by any person,
government or agency whatever, which it may use to meet capital or
operating expenses and for any other use within the scope of its powers,
and to negotiate for the same upon such terms and conditions as the
authority may determine to be necessary, convenient or desirable.

7. The authority may do all things it deems necessary, convenient or
desirable to manage, control and direct the maintenance and operation of
transportation facilities, equipment or real property operated by or
under contract, lease or other arrangement with the authority. Except as
hereinafter specially provided, no municipality or political
subdivision, including but not limited to a county, city, village, town
or school or other district shall have jurisdiction over any facilities
of the authority or any of its activities or operations. In the
operation, maintenance and control of any facilities devoted to purposes
other than direct transportation purposes, the authority shall be
subject to all local laws, resolutions, ordinances, rules and
regulations of a municipality or political subdivision. Each
municipality or political subdivision, including but not limited to a
county, city, village, town or district in which any facilities of the
authority are located shall provide for such facilities police, fire and
health protection services of the same character and to the same extent
as those provided for residents of such municipality or political
subdivision.

The authority may agree with the state department of transportation
for the execution by such department of any grade crossing elimination
project or any grade crossing separation reconstruction project along
any railroad facility operated by the authority or by one of its
subsidiary corporations or under contract, lease or other arrangement
with the authority. Any such project shall be executed as provided in
the grade crossing elimination act and the railroad law, respectively,
and the costs of any such project shall be borne as provided in such
laws, except that the authority's share of such costs shall be borne by
the state.

8. The authority may accept unconditional grants of money or property
as subsidy payments for expansion of service into areas where such
service would not be self-supporting. The authority may accept
unconditional grants of money or property from any city, village, town
or county not wholly contained within a city the whole or any part of
which shall be served or to be served by a transportation facility
operated by the authority. Such grants of money or property would be for
the purpose of assisting the authority in meeting its capital or
operating expenses. The acceptance of any such grant shall not operate
to make the authority an agency of the municipality making the grant.
The provisions of this section are intended as enabling legislation only
and shall not be interpreted as implying that absent their enactment an
authority would lack the power to accept such grant or subsidy.

9. The authority may do all things necessary, convenient or desirable
to design, develop, acquire, construct, maintain, operate, improve and
reconstruct a rapid transit system in the Charlotte-Henrietta Corridor
which is described generally as follows: commencing on the north at the
Port of Rochester, thence southwesterly along the Penn Central railroad
right of way to its intersection with the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad-belt line division right of way, thence southerly along the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad-belt line division to its intersection with
the railroad right of way of the former "rapid transit and industrial
railway", near Lexington Avenue, owned by the City of Rochester, thence
southerly along said former "rapid transit and industrial railway"
through certain abandoned canal lands owned by the State of New York to
the point where it intersects with the Rochester branch of the Lehigh
Valley railroad right of way, thence southerly along said Lehigh Valley
railroad to the point where it intersects with the Erie railroad right
of way, thence southerly along the Erie railroad right of way to a
terminus near Erie Station Road at the Riverton new community, also
thence southeasterly along said Lehigh Valley Railroad from the point
where it intersects with the Erie Railroad right of way, to a terminus
near Calkins Road. The Charlotte-Henrietta Corridor shall be deemed a
"transportation facility" of the authority for all of the purposes of
this title.

10. Notwithstanding any of the above provisions, no project may be
undertaken by the authority unless such project is a part of or
consistent with the adopted master plan.