Atlanta’s public transportation authority is under investigation by the Trump administration a week after two separate stabbings within days of each other made headlines.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday that he directed the Federal Transit Administration to launch an investigation into MARTA. Duffy cited the two “horrific crimes” that he said should disturb every American as his reason for reviewing MARTA’s security spending, safety protocols and risks to passengers and workers.
“No one should be forced to fear for their safety simply because they choose to ride public transit,” Duffy said.
On May 24, a 40-year-old man was stabbed multiple times at the Georgia State MARTA station. The man was reportedly transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities have released an image of the suspect and are asking the public’s help to identify him.
A few days later, on May 30, 66-year-old Margaret Sams-Swan was fatally stabbed 20 times on a MARTA train at the Oakland City Station. Earlier this week, federal prosecutors charged the suspect, a 25-year-old Decatur man, with committing an act of violence causing death on a mass transportation system.
According to Duffy, MARTA employees and riders experience nearly twice as many assaults, robberies, rapes, and other personal security violations as the national average.
In an email to the Georgia Recorder, MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said the agency welcomes the opportunity to share details about its hard work with federal officials.
“MARTA remains committed to continuously evaluating and strengthening our safety programs, procedures, and resources to provide a safe, secure and reliable transit experience for the communities that we serve,” she said.
MARTA will have to submit its data and action plans for crime and fare evasion enforcement and a budget breakdown for 2026 and 2027 to the FTA within the next 15 days. The budget breakdowns must include information about security capital projects that meet the requirements to receive funding from the FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Grants program.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has used the FTA to crackdown on a public transit authority. Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, have all had to increase security and policing in their transit systems as a result of FTA intervention under Duffy’s leadership.
“President Trump has made it clear that American families deserve better, and that’s what we are going to deliver in Georgia too,” Duffy said.
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