The federal government released an audit Monday that said the Charlotte Area Transit System’s safety plan has 18 areas of non-compliance.
The Federal Transit Administration launched the audit last fall after Iryna Zarutska was murdered on a Lynx Blue Line train. In a statement, FTA administrator Marcus Molinaro blamed the safety lapses on creating an environment that led to Zarutska’s killing.
“FTA is determined to do its part to address the systemic failures within Charlotte’s transit system that led to Iryna Zarutska’s tragic death,” he said.
CATS has not responded as of Monday afternoon.
The FTA said it found problems with the transit system’s two safety plans, as well as with its de-escalation training. It also said the rate of assault on CATS employees had risen to five times the national average and that passenger crime rates were three times the national average last year.
CATS must submit a plan to fix the problems within 30 days.
Later this year, responsibility for CATS will shift from the City Council and the Mayor to the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority, which will be governed by a 27-member authority. The MPTA will have a larger budget after Mecklenburg voters in November approved a new one-cent sales tax for transportation.
In response to Zarutska's stabbing death, CATS had already increased security staffing on light rail trains.
