On Friday September 19^th, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent letters to Chicago Transit Authority’s Acting President Nora Leerhsen and to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s General Manager Philip Eng calling for greater efforts to enhance safety on transit systems and to reduce fare evasions. The letters requested the transit agencies to submit reports outlining actions taken by the agencies to reduce fare evasions and crime on transit systems, enhance public safety on and perception of their systems, and to summarize the amount of federal funds and other sources of funds they intend to use for transit safety and security for the next two fiscal years. These latest letters largely mirrored the themes of letters sent to transit leadership in Charlotte, North Caroline earlier in September; Washington, DC and New York City in March; and a letter sent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in June. The letters sent this year have warned that funding could be redirected if the selected transit agencies do not appropriately respond.

Transit Safety in the Post-Pandemic Period

Transit safety is a priority for FTA Administrator Marcus Molinaro. At a roundtable in September held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Molinaro said the FTA has a mandate to clean up buses and subways and will hold transit agencies accountable until significant progress in commuter experience is seen. Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) emphasized the importance of rider trust in the safety of public transit systems to maintain ridership.

The letters being sent by USDOT leadership cite recent high-profile safety events that have occurred on the individual transit systems. When announcing the letters to Chicago and Boston, Secretary Duffy cited the murder of Iryna Zarutska who was murdered while on the Lynx line in Charlotte, North Carolina, which was the topic of Administrator Molinaro’s letter to Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in September.

According to USDOT, transit systems saw a 50% increase in homicides in the period of 2020 to 2024 compared to the 5-year period prior, as well as an 80% increase in assaults.

In January 2024, the FTA and Volpe Center published a report on ridership safety. The report cited increasing numbers of assaults and homicides on public transport. From 2008 to 2022, the injury rate per 100 million passengers increased 294% while fatalities increased 300%.

Despite safety issues, ridership is now returning to pre-pandemic levels. According to a report released by the American Public Transportation Association in May 2025, transit ridership for January-April 2025 hit 85% of levels seen in the same period in 2019. In the initial pandemic period, ridership fell 40% and has been growing back towards pre-pandemic levels in the years since, hitting 66% in 2022, 76% in 2023, and 79% in 2024 despite shifts in work and living patterns. The pandemic period brought about additional, and at times overlapping challenges, to transit systems including loss in revenues, increases in crime, and labor shortages. According to the report, agencies which have focused on rider and worker safety have been more successful in retaining ridership.

Another way to contextualize safety on public transit systems is to compare with different modes. From 2019 to 2024, 46 homicides occurred on public transit whereas in 2024 39,345 people died in car crashes. According to the Congressional Research Service, “The fatality rate per passenger mile for cars and light trucks is about double that of transit buses and five times that of heavy rail.”

Actions Taken to Enhance Transit Safety

In the post-pandemic years, transit agencies have taken actions to reduce fare evasions and increase crime deterrence on transit to regain ridership trust.  Amongst the transit agencies interviewed for the 2024 Volpe report, social service partnerships and crisis outreach were identified as promising mitigations to address customer assaults. Other mitigation measures included environmental designs, law enforcement, and cameras. However, the report advocated for targeted research into mitigation methods to provide transit agencies with better guidance into the effectiveness of methods in different situations.

Recipients of these safety letters from USDOT have made clear in their responses that safety has been and continues to be a priority, and that safety trends are already improving. In response to the FTA, MBTA GM Eng said MBTA and the FTA share a common goal of ensuring the safest commute possible for both transit workers and riders. The MBTA’s letter to the FTA also highlighted efforts that the agencies has made to enhance transit ridership safety including: a high-visibility uniform patrol strategy, enhanced physical barriers and environmental design for suicide prevention, the creation of a Chief of Stations position to promote cleanliness and maintenance, and modernized video surveillance. In September, the MBTA started an initiative to have transit workers scan consumer’s proof of payment while riding and has added electronic fare gates in South Station. According to MBTA, their system has seen a 16% reduction in crime from the beginning of 2025 to the end of September.

In MTA’s response to their FTA letter, the agency emphasized investments in increased law enforcement presence on the NYC system, the addition of over 100,000 cameras on the system, and new platform edge barriers. MTA’s response also highlighted an 8% decrease in transit crime since 2019, hitting new post-pandemic daily ridership records, and an increase customer satisfaction with safety.

Last week, NYPD officials announced a five percent drop in transit crime this summer which the agency attributed to the deployment of law enforcement in “summer violence zones.” In 2024, following a 15.5% increase in felony assaults on the New York City subway system, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 1,000 State Police and National Guard in the transit system and released a five-point plan to address transit crime including installing cameras, establishing mental health teams, and tracking repeat offenders.

During the Biden Administration, FTA had a focus on transit worker safety, including a 2021 RFI on transit worker safety, special directives to transit agencies to address worker assaults, updating the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans regulations calling for enhanced transit safety, and issuing a rule setting minimum standards for rail transit agencies for workforce protections. The rule requires agencies to adopt a State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOA)- approved Roadway Worker Protection Program, establish minimum RWP program elements, update safety manuals to align with RWP programs, and establish a training program for workers responsible for on-track safety.

Federal Funds to Enhance Transit Safety

While USDOT has threatened to withhold federal funds for certain agencies due to unsafe transit systems, federal funds are deployed by transit agencies for harm reduction, enhanced safety, and counterterrorism operations in transit systems. On October 9, Governor Hochul announced that the Department of Homeland Security denied MTA a $34 million Transit Security Grant utilized for NYPD and MTAPD operations. Other USDOT grant programs such as Urbanized Area Formula Grants Program, Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, and the State of Good Repair Grants Program can be utilized by transit agencies to fund capital security projects, planning for the prevention of crime, and security services. Capital projects for enhanced transit security include increased lighting, camera surveillance systems, and infrastructure updates to increase sightlines. Withholding funding could potentially contribute to decreased resources for transit safety initiatives.

Conclusion: An Opportunity for Collaboration or Continued Uncertainty

It is an open question as to how the actions by the identified transit agencies will impact their future federal funding prospects. It will also be important to see how the FTA and transit agencies can work together to promote mitigation measures. Surface transportation reauthorization may also provide an opportunity for additional resource dedication towards ridership safety.

The threats of withholding or withdrawing both formula and discretionary federal funding for transit systems come at a time when a number of transit systems are facing fiscal uncertainties. Chicago Transit Authority has said that without additional state funding support, the system will need to make drastic service cuts. During the government shutdown, infrastructure projects, including Chicago Transit Authority’s CTA Red Line Extension and the CTA Red and Purple Modernization Program, have been placed under administrative review along with other major infrastructure projects due to the use of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. While not related to safety, the recent pauses contribute to an environment of uncertainty for transit infrastructure projects.

The post-pandemic period saw increased efforts from transit agencies to enhance the safety of transit systems both for the transit workforce and for riders. In an environment of federal funding uncertainty, transit safety has been leveraged as a potential point of funding withdrawals. However, there is also a counter opportunity for Congress, FTA, and transit agencies to work together on the shared goal of enhanced ridership safety.