FTA Scrutinizes MARTA Safety Plans After 66-Year-Old Rider's Killing

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 26

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday the Federal Transit Administration has launched a comprehensive review of MARTA’s security spending, safety protocols and risks to riders and workers after Margaret Swan’s killing.
Hundreds of pages of MARTA documents are being examined, and federal officials plan on-site visits to test whether the transit system has made substantive safety improvements beyond its initial response to Washington.
Margaret Swan, 66, was fatally stabbed on a northbound train near Oakland City Station on May 30; prosecutors say John Elijah Matthews, 25, attacked her without prior interaction and was arrested at the station.
Matthews faces a local felony murder charge and a federal mass-transit violence charge that could bring life in prison or the death penalty.
Duffy earlier said assaults, robberies and rapes on MARTA trains run more than three times the national average, sharpening pressure over how the agency used federal security funds.