The Administration may provide transit service by: Operating the transit facilities it owns, leases, or otherwise controls; or Causing any other person to operate these or other transit facilities, in whole or in part, under contract, lease, or other arrangement.

The Public Service Commission may not grant or renew any operating permit or license unless, after notice and opportunity for hearing, it finds that the route to be served and the service to be performed under the permit or license will conform to the legislative policy stated in § 7-102 of this title. Except as otherwise provided in this section, on application, complaint, or its own motion, the Public Service Commission shall: Direct private carriers to coordinate their service schedules with those of the transit facilities owned or controlled by the Administration; Direct private carriers to improve or extend any existing service or to provide additional service over additional routes; and If, after notice and opportunity for hearing, it finds that through service and joint fares are required by the public interest: Authorize a private carrier, under an agreement between the carrier and the Administration, to establish and maintain through routes and joint fares for transportation to be rendered with transit facilities owned or controlled by the Administration and otherwise to integrate its service with the service performed by the transit facilities owned or controlled by the Administration; or In the absence of agreement, direct a private carrier to establish and maintain with the Administration through routes and joint fares. Unless the private carrier is earning a reasonable return on its operation as a whole in rendering transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission, the Public Service Commission may not authorize or direct a private carrier to perform any service, including the establishment or continuation of a joint fare for a through route with the Administration, if the service is based on a division between the Administration and private carrier that does not provide a reasonable return to the private carrier. In determining the issue of reasonable return, the Public Service Commission shall consider any income that is derived from the Administration, whether as payment for services or otherwise, and is attributable to the private carrier or to any corporation, firm, association, or other entity owned in whole or in part by the carrier. The Public Service Commission may not require the Administration to establish and maintain any through service or joint fare.

In cooperation with private carriers and the Public Service Commission, the Administration shall coordinate, to the fullest extent practicable, the routes and service of its transit facilities with the routes and service of private carriers. Subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission, the Administration shall: Enter into agreements with private carriers to establish and maintain through routes and joint fares and to provide for the division of these joint fares; or In the absence of agreement, establish and maintain through routes and joint fares in accordance with orders issued by the Public Service Commission and directed to the private carriers, if the terms and conditions for the through service and joint fares are acceptable to the Administration.

If the Public Service Commission fails, refuses, or is unable to direct a private carrier to perform a specified service requested by the Administration, the Administration: With the transit facilities it owns or controls, may perform any transit service it considers necessary to provide adequate transit service; and By agreement, may make reasonable subsidy payments to private carriers to encourage them to render bus service to the extent practicable.

As to all or any part of any railroad facility or transit facility, the Administration may: Fix, revise, charge, and collect rentals, rates, fees, fares, and other charges for its use or for its services; and Contract with any person who desires its use for any purpose and fix the terms, conditions, rentals, rates, fees, fares, and other charges for this use. To the extent practicable and consistent with providing adequate service at reasonable fares, the rentals, rates, fees, fares, and other charges imposed for and the services provided by the transit facilities and railroad facilities owned or controlled by the Administration shall be fixed and adjusted in respect of the aggregate of the charges so as to provide funds that, together with any other revenues, are sufficient to: Maintain, repair, and operate the transit facilities and railroad facilities; Provide for depreciation of the transit facilities and railroad facilities; Replace, enlarge, extend, reconstruct, renew, and improve the transit facilities and railroad facilities; Pay the costs of purchasing, leasing, or otherwise acquiring and installing rolling stock and other equipment; Pay the principal of and interest on any outstanding obligations of the Administration, including obligations incurred for the acquisition of rolling stock; Pay the current expenses of the Administration; and Provide for any purpose that the Administration considers necessary and desirable to carry out the provisions of this title. Except for the authority of the Secretary and, where applicable, the Maryland Transportation Authority, the rentals, rates, fares, fees, and other charges imposed by the Administration are not subject to supervision or regulation by any instrumentality, agency, or unit of this State or any of its political subdivisions. The Administration may contract with the federal government, this State, or any of their agencies or political subdivisions for payments to the Administration for free or reduced fare transportation of employees or other persons. With respect to the operation of transit service, the Administration shall allow individuals with disabilities who are employed by sheltered workshops and who earn less than the current minimum wage, as determined by the Federal Wage and Hours Board, to travel free to and from those workshops.

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, until a public hearing is held on the matter, the Administration may not: Fix or revise any fare or rate charged the general public; Establish or abandon any bus or rail route listed on a published timetable; Change a bus or rail route alignment listed on a published timetable, unless the change is needed because of temporary construction or changes in the road network; Reduce the frequency, number of days, or days of service for a commuter bus or commuter rail route without substituting a comparable level of service, unless the reduction is temporary or a result of: A natural disaster; Weather or other emergency conditions; Schedule adjustments required by a third party that operates service on the same right–of–way; or Other circumstances beyond the control of the Administration; or Establish or abandon a rail transit station. The Administration may only implement a change described in paragraph (1) of this subsection during the time period that begins 6 weeks after the public hearing and ends 6 months after the public hearing. If the Administration gives inadequate or defective notice of a public hearing on a change described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Administration may not implement the change unless the Administration makes a reasonable effort to correct the inadequacy or defect and a legally sufficient public hearing is held. For the purposes of this paragraph, notice shall be considered inadequate or defective if: The Administration does not comply with the newspaper publication requirements under subsection (d) of this section; The Administration does not comply with the notice requirements for affected jurisdictions prescribed under subsection (d) of this section; At least 30% of the Administration’s facilities are not posted as required under subsection (d) of this section; or The notice contains erroneous information. A public hearing required under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be at a place and time that is reasonably accessible and convenient to the patrons of the service to be affected. The Administration shall accept written comments for 30 days after a hearing held on a change described in paragraph (1) of this subsection. The Administration may add service on a new alignment branching off of an existing route without holding a public hearing, if the addition of the new alignment does not alter the existing route. The following persons may request the Administration to hold a hearing on any rentals, rates, fares, fees, or other charges of the Administration or any service rendered by the transit facilities owned or controlled by the Administration: Any person served by or using the transit facilities; The People’s Counsel, as a representative of the general public; and Any private carrier operating in the District. The request for a hearing shall: Be in writing; State the matter sought to be heard; and Set forth clearly the grounds for the request. As soon as possible after the Administration receives a request for a hearing, a designated employee of the Administration shall confer on the matter with the person requesting the hearing. After the conference, if the Administration considers the matter meritorious and of general significance, it may call a hearing. The Administration shall give at least a 30–day notice before a hearing. The notice shall be: Published once a week for 2 successive weeks in two or more newspapers of daily circulation throughout the District; Posted in all of the Administration’s offices, stations, and terminals and all of the vehicles and rolling stock used in revenue service by the mode of transportation that will be affected by the proposed action described in subsection (a) of this section; and Provided to the governing body of each county or municipal corporation affected by a change in transit service or fare or rate described under subsection (a)(1) of this section. The Administration may establish a process for providing notice to local governments under paragraph (2)(iii) of this subsection. The 30–day period begins when the notice first appears in the newspaper. Before calling a hearing under this section, the Administration shall file at its main office and make available for public inspection: Its report on the subject matter of the hearing; and If the hearing was requested under subsection (c) of this section, the written request for the hearing and all documents filed in support of it.

An entity that submits a bid or proposal to the Administration on a procurement contract to provide MARC service that is funded in whole or in part by public funds shall comply with the requirements of Title 12, Subtitle 5 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.