§17-16A-18a Corridor "L" toll fees authorized; commuter pass; annual report.
§17-16A-18a. Corridor "L" toll fees authorized; commuter pass; annual report.
(a) The parkways authority is hereby authorized to operate the currently existing toll collection facility located at the interchange of U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") and said turnpike subject to the following:
(1) The toll fee charges by the Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority at its toll facilities located at the interchange of U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") and said turnpike shall not exceed those toll charges levied and collected by the authority at said interchange as of the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety, and hereafter, no proposed increase in such toll fees shall be implemented by the parkways authority unless the authority shall have first complied with validly promulgated and legislatively approved rules pursuant to the applicable provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code;
(2) The parkways authority shall maintain, advertise, implement and otherwise make generally available to all qualified members of the public, resident or nonresident, a system of commuter passes, in a form to be determined by the authority: Provided, That said system of commuter passes shall, at a minimum, permit the holder of such pass or passes, after paying the applicable fee to the authority, to travel through the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike interchange and toll facilities on an unlimited basis, without additional charge therefor, for a period of one year after the issuance of said commuter pass or passes: Provided, however, That the cost for such commuter pass or passes shall in no event aggregate more than five dollars per year for a full calendar year of unlimited travel through the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike interchange toll facilities. Applications for these commuter passes are to be made available by the Parkway Authority to every Division of Motor Vehicles office in the state.
To the extent required or necessary, the parkways authority is further hereby authorized and empowered, in addition to the extent previously authorized and empowered pursuant to section six and section thirteen-b, article sixteen-a of this chapter, to promulgate rules in accordance with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code with regard to the implementation of proposed future toll increases at the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike toll facility;
(3) The system of commuter passes implemented in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2), subsection (a), above, shall be available only for use when operating or traveling in a Class "A" motor vehicle as herein defined. Whoever shall knowingly or intentionally utilize any commuter pass issued in accordance with this section while operating other than a Class "A" motor vehicle, as herein defined, at the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike toll facility, or any other toll facility at or upon which such pass may later be usable, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for every such offense shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished in accordance with the provisions of section seventeen, article sixteen-a of this chapter; and the parkways authority shall hereafter be authorized and empowered to cancel any such commuter pass or passes improperly used in accordance with this section;
(4) In addition to the annual report required by section twenty-six of this article, the parkways authority will prepare and deliver to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the President of the Senate a separate annual report of toll revenues collected from the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike toll facility. The report shall disclose separately the toll revenues generated from regular traffic and the commuter pass created herein. The reports shall include, but not be limited to, disclosing separately the expenditure of said toll revenues generated from the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike toll facility including a description of the purposes for which such toll revenues are expended;
(5) In the event any court of competent jurisdiction shall issue an order which adjudges that any portion of subdivision (1), (2) or (3) subsection (a) of this section is illegal, unconstitutional, unenforceable or in any manner invalid, the parkways authority shall discontinue, remove and not otherwise relocate the U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") turnpike toll facility within three hundred sixty-five days after the date upon which said court order is final or all appeals to said order have been exhausted;
(6) For the purpose of this section, a Class "A" vehicle shall be defined as a motor vehicle of passenger type and truck with a gross weight of not more than 8,000 pounds and registered or eligible for registration as a Class "A" vehicle in accordance with section one, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of this code as the same is currently constituted; and
(7) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the this code to the contrary, the parkways authority may not promulgate emergency rules in accordance with section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to increase or decrease toll fees or the commuter pass fee established herein.
(b) Nothing in this section is to be construed to apply to, regulate, or in any manner affect the operation of the three main line toll barriers and toll collection facilities currently located on the West Virginia Turnpike and operated by the parkways authority as Barrier A, Barrier B and Barrier C (I-64, I-77).