Overview
- Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy directed the Federal Transit Administration on Thursday to launch a formal investigation of MARTA focused on security spending, safety protocols and risks to riders and workers and set a 15-day deadline for documents and plans.
- The probe follows a string of violent incidents, including the May 30 fatal stabbing of 66-year-old Margaret Swan on a MARTA train for which federal prosecutors charged 25-year-old John Elijah Matthews.
- MARTA postponed the June 'First Ride' event and said its new CQ400 railcars are not yet certified for passenger service because testing and safety approvals remain incomplete.
- Agency leaders say they are boosting security for the World Cup with extra uniformed and undercover officers, mobile command units, monitoring through a Real Time Crime Center and about 12,000 cameras while expanding social-service responses such as the MARTA HOPE program.
- Rider skepticism is high and officials warn that the FTA review could lead to mandated corrective actions, changes to funding or operational conditions that would accelerate visible fixes before the first Atlanta match on June 15.