Argentina or Spain will win the World Cup on Sunday. But MARTA is already celebrating a win, announcing Friday that it moved 4.7 million riders during the 35 days of events in metro Atlanta, with no major crimes reported.
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The transit agency came into the FIFA World Cup amid a federal investigation, after a woman was stabbed to death on a train and another was stabbed in a separate incident.
The violence prompted U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to order an investigation by the Federal Transit Administration in early June.
MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Jonathan J. Hunt responded to the federal inquiry by describing a host of improvements since he took over last August.
In a June 17 letter to the federal agency, Hunt wrote that the MARTA crime rate fell 25% from 2024 to 2025, with aggravated assaults down 27% and robberies down 35%.
MARTA had 230 police officers when he took over, and it had 268 by the time he sent the letter.
And the fiscal year 2026 forecast for police expenditures at the agency was nearly $58.7 million, up 22% from the prior fiscal year.
“Our increased law enforcement actions are having a positive impact,” Hunt wrote.
But he also acknowledged a core challenge: “While MARTA has positive and improving crime statistics, we realize that if our customers don’t perceive the system to be safe, they will not ride.”
Most of the money comes from local sales taxes, though the federal government gave MARTA nearly $11 million in grants for safety and operations preparation ahead of the World Cup, Hunt said in a letter to Georgia lawmakers last month.
The agency seized on the increased ridership during the World Cup as a promising sign.
The busiest day was the match between Morocco and Haiti on June 24, with 240,000 daily riders, which was 2.6 times the normal count. The next busiest day was when England played the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 230,000 riders, 2.5 times normal.
Though no major crimes were reported, three suspects in prior violent incidents were apprehended, the agency said, as hundreds of MARTA officers worked nearly around the clock, with help from transit police from Denver and other jurisdictions.
Six hundred MARTA ambassadors and 100 multilingual FIFA volunteers also pitched in, as the agency gave directions, water, sunscreen and first aid to fans.
In a statement Friday, Hunt thanked the officers and workers.
He also thanked the public “for trusting” MARTA to whisk them to matches, watch parties, on errands and to work, adding, “We hope you’ll continue to let MARTA drive.”
