Section 39-18-3 - Purposes of the authority(a) It shall be the purposes of the authority to:(1) Provide public transit services that meet mobility needs of the people of the state, including the elderly and disabled;(2) Increase access to employment opportunities;(3) Connect different modes of public transportation, including rail, air, and water services;(4) Promote community design that features public transit services as defining elements of a community;(5) Facilitate energy conservation and efficient energy use in the transportation sector by providing public transit services; and(6) Mitigate traffic congestion and enhance air quality.(b) It shall further be the purpose of the authority to own and operate a mass motor bus, water, or rail passenger transportation system and to manage, to coordinate, and to perform vehicle maintenance for a state paratransit system. Whenever any operator of a mass motor bus, water, or rail passenger transportation system files with the public utilities administrator a petition to discontinue any service, it is the purpose and function of the authority to determine if it is in the public interest to discontinue that service. If it is determined that it is not in the public interest to discontinue that service, the authority is authorized and empowered to acquire all or any part of the transit property, or any interest therein, of the system.P.L. 1964, ch. 210, § 1; P.L. 1965, ch. 127, § 2; P.L. 1983, ch. 157, §1; P.L. 1999 , ch. 256, § 1; P.L. 2007 , ch. 504, § 1; P.L. 2007 , ch. 518, § 1.