(b) No person, unless duly authorized by the authority shall engage in any commercial activity upon any facility or conveyance. Commercial activities include:

1. (1) the advertising, display, sale, lease, offer for sale or lease, or distribution of food, goods, services or entertainment (including the free distribution of promotional goods or materials); and
2. (2) the solicitation of money or payment for food, goods, services or entertainment. No person shall panhandle or beg upon any facility or conveyance.

(c) Except as expressly authorized and permitted in this subdivision, no person shall engage in any nontransit uses upon any facility or conveyance. Nontransit uses are noncommercial activities that are not directly related to the use of a facility or conveyance for transportation. The following nontransit uses are authorized and permitted by the authority, provided they do not impede transit activities and they are conducted in accordance with the rules governing the conduct and safety of the public in the use of the facilities of Capital District Transportation Authority: public speaking; distribution of written noncommercial materials; artistic performances, including the acceptance of donations; solicitation for religious or political causes; solicitation for charities that: (1) are duly registered as charitable organizations with the Secretary of State of New York under section 172 of the New York Executive Law or any successor provision; or (2) are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code or any successor provision. Solicitors for such charities shall provide, upon request, evidence that such charity meets one of the preceding qualifications.

1. (1) Permitted nontransit uses may be conducted in the transit system except when on or within; an omnibus; any area not generally open to the public; or 50 feet from the marked entrance to an authority office or tower. The following activities are not subject to the distance requirements from an authority office or tower: leafleting or distribution of literature, campaigning, public speaking or similar activities, provided that no sound production device is used and no physical obstruction, such as a table or other object, is present.
2. (2) In no event will an activity be permitted in a location which interferes with the access onto or off of an escalator, stairway or elevator, or otherwise interferes with or impedes transit services or the movement of passengers.
3. (3) No activity permitted by this authorization shall be conducted in any area where construction, renovation or maintenance work is actively underway, or on or near the staircases, escalators, or elevators leading to the platform and including any such work in or near track areas.
4. (4) No activity may be permitted which creates excessive noise or which emits noise that interferes with transit operations. The emission of any sound in excess of 85 dBA on the A weighted scale measured at five feet from the source of the sound or 70 dBA measured at two feet from a token booth is excessive noise and is prohibited. In no event will the use of amplification devices of any kind, electronic or otherwise, be permitted.
5. (5) No person shall use media devices such as films, slides or videotapes.
6. (6) No person shall conduct or continue to conduct an activity permitted by this authorization which includes the use of a sound production device during any announcement made over the public address system or by a police officer or by an authority employee.
7. (7) No person shall misrepresent through words, signs, leaflets, attire or otherwise such person's affiliation with or lack of affiliation with or support by any organization, group, entity or cause, including any affiliation with or support by the authority or the Capital District Transportation Authority or any of their programs.
8. (8) Any person using the transit system for nontransit activities permitted pursuant to this rule does so at his or her own risk, and the authority assumes no liability by the grant of this authorization.

(d) All persons on or in any facility or conveyance of the authority shall:

1. (1) comply with all lawful orders and directives of any police officer or other authority employee acting within the scope of his or her employment;
2. (2) obey any instructions on notices or signs duly posted on any authority facility or conveyance; and
3. (3) provide accurate, complete and true information or documents requested by police officers or other authority personnel acting within the scope of their employment and otherwise in accordance with law.