760                              Laws of Maryland                       Ch. 356

12.

It is the policy of this article that, consistent with the allevia-
tion of traffic congestion within the District and the attainment of
a balanced transportation system utilizing each mode of transpor-
tation to its best advantage, all costs incurred in constructing, acquir-
ing, operating and maintaining the regional transit facilities shall
be borne, as far as practicable, by fares charged for the service
performed by the transit facilities owned or controlled by the Au-
thority and that at least two thirds of the net project costs shall be
paid by grants contributed by the federal government. It is also the
policy of this article to create a transportation system within the
original district which will provide compatibility with other con-
tiguous or neighboring systems.

13.

(b) Subject to constitutional limitations, the State and the
component [government] governments are authorized to make grants
to the Authority, to guarantee any obligations of the Authority, to
make contributions to meet any operating expenses and to enter into
contracts with the Authority, any lender, or any trustee under an
indenture or loan agreement entered into by the Authority with
respect thereto, but the Authority shall have no power to impose
any commitments or obligations upon any such government and may
not levy any tax unless authorized by law to do so.

15.

(a) The Authority may provide by resolution for the issuance
at one time, or in series from time to time, of revenue bonds of the
Authority for any purposes of this article, as set forth herein,
and shall have the power to pledge all or any part of the net operat-
ing revenues of the Authority to the payment of principal of, and
premium if any, and interest on such bonds. The bonds [any] and
any interest coupons to be attached thereto shall be executed in such
manner as determined by the Authority.

18.

(a) The Authority may fix, revise, charge and collect rentals,
rates, fees or other charges for the use of its transit facilities, and
contract with any person, partnership, association, or corporation
desiring the use of any part of a [project] facility and its appur-
tenances for any proper purpose, and fix the terms, conditions, rentals
and rates of charges for such use. Rentals and other rates, fees and
charges shall be fixed and adjusted in respect of the aggregate
thereof from the projects under the control of the Authority to pro-
vide funds sufficient with other revenues, if any, (i) to pay the Au-
thority's current expenses if and to the extent that the monies avail-
able under the provisions of Section 14 of this article are insufficient
for this purpose, (ii) to pay the principal of and the interest on all
revenue bonds issued under this article as they become due and pay-
able, (iii) to create reserves for these purposes, and (iv) to provide
funds for paying the cost of renewals or replacements, the cost of ac-
quiring or installing equipment and the cost of enlarging, extending,
reconstruction or improving any [project or projects] facility. The
rentals and other rates, fees, and charges shall not be subject to super-