Subtitle 20A. Transportation

The carrier of any public passenger vehicle, as defined herein, shall have the right to refuse to transport a person or persons when the agent or employee exercising said right has reasonable grounds to believe that the immediate conduct or behavior of said person or persons constitutes a disturbance of the public peace, as defined in the Sections 121 and 122 of Article 27 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. No person, after a demand to exit is made by the operator or any agent or employee of WMATA or the County, shall remain on a public passenger vehicle or in a rail transit station.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of Section 20A-102 or any person who violates Section 20A-103 by boarding a vehicle or failing to leave a vehicle, when so directed by an agent or employee of the carrier, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) nor more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for a first offense; and not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or up to ten (10) days in jail, or both, for each second or subsequent offense.

No person shall, when having no right to do so, nor a good faith reason to believe he has such right: stop, impede, interfere with, or open the doors of a public passenger vehicle, or otherwise obstruct the operation of transit facilities or public passenger vehicles.

Any person who willfully violates the provisions of Section 20A-105 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be subject to a fine of up to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or up to six (6) months in jail, or both.

The purpose of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is to reduce vehicle trip generation of existing and proposed developments during peak periods and, indirectly, on a daily basis. Reduction of peak-period and daily vehicle trips will reduce hydrocarbon, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon dioxide emissions created by motor vehicle use. Reduction in vehicle-generated emissions is a requirement of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. It is imposed on the Metropolitan Washington Region. Maryland is part of that region, and must adopt a State Implementation Plan which is developed by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in coordination with the State Air Agency (Maryland Department of the Environment, Air Management Division) and the local governments within the Nonattainment Area. This State Implementation Plan must demonstrate how these emissions will be reduced to a point within the acceptable range. TDM programs must be a combined effort of both the public and private sectors, must be considered as early as possible during the land use planning stage of master plan development, must be funded by various sources, must be visible and identifiable with marketable strategies and advocates within both the public and private sectors, and must be evaluated on a periodic basis to determine the level of success.

Any person adversely affected by the Council's decision to establish a Transportation Demand Management District or its decision to impose sanctions for noncompliance with a Transportation Demand Management Agreement has the right to appeal to the circuit court in accordance to the rules governing administrative appeals. Any party to the proceeding in the circuit court aggrieved by the decision of the said court may appeal from such decision to the Court of Special Appeals.

The purpose of this Act is to facilitate equitable access to public transportation by creating a structured process through which public transit providers may request access to private property to install, maintain, or continue a public bus stop, subject to legislative approval. This Act seeks to balance the transportation needs of County residents with the property rights of private owners.