When Iryna Zarutska was murdered by Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., while riding the commuter rail service in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August 2025, most people saw a tragedy.

Nevertheless, Oklahoma City metro officials continue to tout the Charlotte rail system as a model for Oklahoma City.

The ONE Transit website continues to identify the Charlotte rail system as a model for what officials hope to do in Oklahoma City through a proposed $1.8 billion commuter rail system that will cover 39 miles from Edmond to Oklahoma City to Norman and include 10 stops, plus one special event station.

“While the largest cities in the U.S. have had regional transit systems for decades, even our peer cities, such as Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Nashville, and Austin, have realized the importance of regional transit for their region’s transportation and economic future and have more recently developed effective regional transit systems,” the ONE Transit site states.

The ONE Transit site also declares, “Big league, peer cities, such as Salt Lake City, Nashville, and Charlotte have developed regional transit systems over the last 30 years, including Commuter Rail, Light Rail Modern Streetcar, Bus Rapid Transit, and local Bus services.”

But public data and reports show Zarutska’s murder, while an extreme example, was not entirely unexpected. The rail system has long been associated with growing crime.

When the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor reviewed the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) following Zarutska’s murder, auditors found the system was losing between $5 million and $6.5 million annually because the system does not collect fares from most riders. An estimated 60 percent of light rail riders were not paying.

“As reported in the days after Iryna Zarutska’s murder, her alleged killer did not purchase a ticket when boarding the bus to the CATS transit center or upon entering the light rail,” the auditor’s report stated.

The report noted that a second (although non-fatal) stabbing incident had occurred on the light rail on December 5, 2025.

Auditors found gaps in rail security, as well as $1.7 million in unspent funding for safety and security equipment.

CATS informed auditors that the number of fare-evasion citations issued dropped because bus drivers were instructed not to enforce fares to protect them from altercations.

One possible reason for rail operators’ indifference to non-paying customers, including potentially dangerous riders, is that there is little impact on the rail service’s finances.

A 2023 Charlotte Urban Institute post about the Charlotte Area Transit System noted that the system relies almost entirely on taxpayer finances. The system does not produce nearly enough revenue to cover costs. In fiscal 2023, when CATS’ total operating budget was $211 million, the system was projected to collect only $13.4 million in fares.

Oklahoma City metro officials have expressed a similar disinterest in operating a financially viable rail system.

After officials announced that the existing OKC Streetcar system is waiving all fares for passengers to boost ridership on the downtown rail service, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt waved off financial considerations.

“In government, we don’t measure the success of our services by the profit they turn,” Holt wrote, “because they never have and they never will.”

Zarutska’s murder on the Charlotte rail service is only the latest crime associated with the rail line.

A study published in May 2025, “The line from platform to peril: a longitudinal analysis of crime patterns at light rail stations in Charlotte, NC,” examined “the long-term relationship between light rail expansion and crime, using a 20-year observation period in Charlotte, NC.”

“Our findings suggest that the expansion of the light rail system led to an increase in crime around train stations,” the report concluded. “We observe a significant intervention effect across multiple crime categories and spatial distances. These analyses suggest the effect appears stronger after the expansion of light rail service to additional train stations.”

The analysis used incident counts from January 2005 to May 2024.

The review found there was “a substantial percentage increase in crime associated with the opening of light rail stations in surrounding areas” that was “consistent across all crime categories and distances, but strongest within 300 ft of stations.”

“Other” crimes committed within 300 feet of Charlotte stations surged 362.3 percent, while violent crime increased 259.7 percent, total crime rose 229 percent, and property crime increased by 170.5 percent.

“Using a variety of modeling strategies, our findings suggest that the expansion of light rail stations in Charlotte is associated with a noticeable increase in crime near stations,” the report stated.

An Oct. 31, 2023, opinion column posted on the Niner Times, the University of North Carolina–Charlotte’s student news publication, noted that many students have safety concerns about riding the Charlotte rail system.

One student quoted in the piece bluntly noted, “I would never take the light rail by myself,” saying she only travelled on it as part of a group.

The 2023 Charlotte Urban Institute post on the Charlotte Area Transit System also noted another fact: While rail service is given much focus by government planners, the benefit to those truly needing travel options pales when compared to other options.

The post stated, “All of the focus on rail has obscured a simple fact in Charlotte, however: Buses have historically carried the lion’s share of passengers.”

[Photo credit: Charlotte Area Transit System video]