Why it’s so hard to keep America’s public transit riders safe

By Ray Sanchez, CNN

(CNN) — Wearing earbuds and a T-shirt for the pizzeria where she worked, Iryna Zarutska 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 released last weekend, the Trump administration highlighted the attack as more proof that crime is out of control in Democratic-run cities.

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 risk of death or injury on public transit is about one tenth that of car travel.

“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 three unprovoked, broad daylight stabbings 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.

The Charlotte Observer 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 opened an investigation into the transit system “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.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Dianne Gallagher and Wes Bruer contributed to this report.