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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Why it’s so hard to keep America’s public transit riders safe
By Ray Sanchez, CNN
Updated:
5:00 AM EDT, Sun September 14, 2025
Source: CNN
Wearing earbuds and a T-shirt for the pizzeria where she worked, took a
seat on a Charlotte light rail train one night last month and stared
down at the screen of her phone on what was supposed to be an ordinary
commute home.
Similar scenes play out countless times a day on transit systems in
cities across the country – where riders go about their routines even
as problems like homelessness, untreated mental illness and
unpredictable assaults chip away at an already fragile sense of
security in public transportation.
Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee and artist, sat in front of a
man in a red sweatshirt who around four and a half minutes later jumped
up, grabbed the seat bar in front of him with his left hand and fatally
stabbed her with his right hand. She clutched her face and throat and
looked up at her attacker before slouching to the ground, according to
security camera video.
After video of Zarutska’s August 22 death was last weekend, the Trump
administration highlighted the attack as more proof that .
The tragedy also sheds light on the challenges of keeping America’s
public transportation riders safe in vast, crowded and wide-open
systems that fuel urban life.
“Wherever you have a gathering of people, it’s a target,
particularly if the people can’t escape,” said CNN transportation
analyst Mary Schiavo, a former US Department of Transportation
inspector general. “And therein lies the problem. Once you’re on
the train, the bus, the plane, the ship – you’re captive.”
Security challenges come with being ‘open and accessible’
While confining virtual strangers to platforms, stations, trains and
buses, transportation systems ultimately deliver people where they’re
going quickly and efficiently, according to experts. And heightened
security measures – whether widespread bag checks in places where
nearly everyone is carrying a bag or the use of metal detectors –
slow that down.
“Transit systems have to be open and accessible,” said Anastasia
Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public
Affairs and a transit safety expert. “It’s very difficult to
install measures that you put, for example, in airports because the
public is not going to accept such delays.”
Loukaitou-Sideris said transit systems should consider using scanners
at major hubs that can quickly detect knives and handguns without
requiring riders to wait in line. But such technology – already used
in China – is expensive, she noted.
Todd Litman, founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport
Policy Institute in Canada, said his research shows that the
“Anywhere there are concentrations of homelessness and mental
illness, you’re probably going to find more of these random attacks
like what happened in Charlotte,” Litman said.
And such attacks certainly are not exclusive to public transit systems:
In November, a homeless man with mental health problems and a lengthy
arrest record was accused of on the streets of Manhattan that left two
men and a woman dead.
“The message I emphasize is overall public transit is safe, and it
becomes safer the more non-criminals are riding,” Litman said. “The
biggest safety is not whether or not there’s a police officer in the
station. It’s whether the station is busy with normal people going
about their normal business who are encouraged to intervene if some
crazy person starts doing something irresponsible.”
Transit experts said it’s impractical to have police officers on
every train car or bus and on every platform. Widespread bag checks and
use of metal detectors are also not practical in systems that have
dozens of stations with multiple entrances and exits. Some transit
systems have installed fare gates designed to deter turnstile jumpers.
reported that transit officials don’t believe the stabbing suspect
bought a ticket on the open fare system that allows passengers to board
without first getting tickets checked. The system does not use gates or
turnstiles to access platforms.
“It is and it would be possible to secure and have security systems
other than, of course, cameras in place already at train stations. But
again, it’s going to slow things down dramatically. And it would
change the way we use that system,” Schiavo said. “People will have
to get used to a different way of life. You can’t just run from the
office and hop on the train.”
Many transit systems across the country have increased the presence of
uniformed officers on platforms and trains. Some have employed armed
and unarmed private security personnel for stations, and others have
dispatched mental health and crisis outreach teams to transit hubs to
offer services to the homeless.
Loukaitou-Sideris said some transit systems have tested cell phone apps
that connect with transit police in real time to report emergencies.
“But you cannot predict everything, or have someone stationed on each
and every bus stop, on each and every transit station,”
Loukaitou-Sideris said. “At the end of the day, if someone has a
knife and all of a sudden stabs someone, it’s kind of difficult to
prevent it.”
And transit systems across the country already employ extensive
networks of surveillance cameras, according to experts.
“In the case of the the poor lady in in Charlotte, yes, the train was
covered by cameras, but it didn’t stop anything,” Schiavo said.
Feds probe city’s light rail system
The Charlotte stabbing suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, has a
lengthy rap sheet. He now faces a state charge of first-degree murder
and a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass
transportation system. He was homeless at the time of the attack, and
suffered from mental health problems, family members told CNN.
CNN has reached out to Brown’s attorney for comment.
Brown’s criminal history included convictions for armed robbery,
felony larceny and breaking and entering.
At a time when transit systems across the nation – including
Charlotte’s – are recovering from declining ridership during the
pandemic, the North Carolina light rail system is now facing increased
scrutiny following Zarutska’s slaying.
The US Department of Transportation on Wednesday “to determine
whether they are taking the necessary actions to keep riders and
transit workers safe.”
In response, the Charlotte Area Transportation System said it
“remains fully committed to working collaboratively with our local,
state, and federal partners. These relationships are essential to our
mission, and we value the trust and cooperation they represent as we
continue working together to support our region’s transit system.”
The city’s mayor said Wednesday the transportation system will add 30
more security personnel and will “deploy new security teams including
bike patrols and urban terrain vehicles in the coming weeks.” The
city also announced a stronger security presence on Blue Line platforms
and increased fare enforcement. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department also increased patrols across the transit system.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s investigating the
possibility of cutting federal funding from Charlotte’s light rail
system.
“Using this incident as an excuse to do things like reduce transit
funding is quite what I would consider the wrong approach,” Litman
said. “If any policy maker is really concerned about transit crime
the first thing they should do is increase funding to make transit
systems safer and more attractive, so you get more ridership and,
therefore, more security.”
‘This could have been anyone’
Kathryn Dean of Charlotte was in the area the night of the stabbing and
saw blue lights and emergency service personnel at the light rail stop,
she told CNN.
Since then, Dean and her boyfriend have grown “more aware” and
“feel uneasy,” she said, adding she often sees homeless people
hanging out at train stops but usually tries to avoid places they
congregate.
Dean also takes early morning runs, and “as a small, 28-year-old
blonde girl,” she is more aware of her surroundings since the
stabbing, she said. It’s made her take notice of her habits, like
wearing headphones, in public.
Dean said it’s good local leaders are considering safety enhancements
around the light rail.
Zarutska’s family, in a statement, demanded change, citing a “lack
of visible or effective security” on the Charlotte Area
Transportation System Blue Line.
“This could have been anyone riding the light rail that night,” the
family said. “We are committed to making sure this never happens
again.”
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