Two stabbings in a week put MARTA safety back in the spotlight

A woman is dead and a transit system is under scrutiny — and the timing could not be worse for Atlanta.

A fatal stabbing on a MARTA train Saturday morning at the Oakland City station is the second violent attack on the system in six days. MARTA police say officers patrolling the station responded around noon to reports of a woman stabbed on a train, arrested the suspect on the spot, and tried to save her life. She died at the scene. MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher called it “a senseless act of violence.”

Six days earlier, a man was stabbed multiple times at the Georgia State station — wounds to his chest, arm, back, and knee. Security footage showed that attack began as a fistfight before one person pulled a knife. He survived.

Atlanta is weeks away from hosting eight FIFA World Cup matches. The city has asked fans to ride MARTA.

How the numbers stack up

The back-to-back attacks have renewed questions about whether MARTA is safe — and whether it is more dangerous than transit systems in other major American cities. Measured by the standard industry benchmark — crimes per million rides — MARTA ranks among the safest when compared to large transit systems.

According to MARTA’s own Key Performance Indicators, the agency recorded 1.43 Part I crimes per million boardings in March 2026, well below its own target of 4.15. Part I crimes cover serious offenses including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and theft.

New York’s subway finished 2025 at 1.65 per million, its best mark in 16 years. Washington’s Metro recorded 2.9 per million through the second half of 2025. Philadelphia’s SEPTA comes in lowest at approximately 1.1.

Chicago’s CTA is the significant outlier. Chicago Police data shows roughly 2,900 crimes at CTA stations and platforms in the 12 months ending July 2025, across a system that carried 319 million total rides that year, putting its rate at approximately 9 crimes per million — more than six times MARTA’s current figure.

Here is how the major transit systems stack up compared to each other.

1. Philadelphia SEPTA: 1.1 crimes per million rides
2. MARTA: 1.43 crimes per million rides
3. New York City subway: 1.65 crimes per million rides
4. Washington Metro: 2.9 crimes per million rides
5. Chicago CTA: 9 crimes per million rides

Why Chicago is so much worse

The CTA’s numbers are not simply a reflection of Chicago being a bigger city. A Tribune analysis found that CTA passengers and workers are assaulted at rates at least double those of comparable transit systems nationwide. Aggravated assaults and batteries hit a 24-year high on the CTA in 2025, and the upward trend has continued into 2026. The Federal Transit Administration threatened to cut millions in federal funding unless the agency produced an acceptable safety plan.

The safer systems share common ground: new fare gates to control access, visible police presence, expanded surveillance cameras, and mental health outreach teams. MARTA has been moving in that direction. New Better Breeze tap-to-pay fare gates are rolling out systemwide, and the agency completed active shooter and train assault drills with federal agencies ahead of the World Cup.

A city problem as much as a transit problem

Transit systems do not exist in a vacuum. The cities around them shape what happens inside them.

Atlanta’s full-year 2025 crime picture is mixed. Homicides fell to 98 — the lowest total since 2018 and a 40 percent decline over four years. Overall crime dropped 7 percent. But aggravated assaults rose 25 percent year-over-year and robberies climbed 25 percent as well, according to Atlanta Police Department data. That combination of falling homicides and rising violent street crime puts pressure on MARTA that systems in more uniformly improving cities do not face.

Crime on every major transit system also clusters at a small number of stations. On the CTA, more than half of all crimes occur at just 17 of 123 stations. On the New York subway, half of all violent crimes happen at 30 of 472 stations. MARTA follows the same pattern — with a handful of stations, including Five Points, Georgia State, and Oakland City, accounting for a disproportionate share of incidents.