Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, upon proper application the Department of Transportation may issue appropriate permits to a regional transit authority or public transit operator to install and maintain benches upon which commercial advertisements are placed provided that each bench will be located at one of the applicant’s bus stops, the proposed location for the bench is within the right-of-way of a public road, and the applicant otherwise meets all relevant federal statutory and regulatory requirements. The department may charge a permit fee of twenty-five dollars for each permit application. All permits issued pursuant to this section expire on July 1, 2010.