House panel weighs transit safety after Iryna Zarutska stabbing in Charlotte

FIRST ON FOX: The House of Representatives is charging ahead with discussions on how to bolster trust in public transit after the deadly stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, N.C.

A panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding a closed-door roundtable with federal transit officials, as well as law enforcement and union representatives on Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned.

It’s being led by Highways and Transit subcommittee chair Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., who represents the state where the stabbing occurred. 

“The recent deadly stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail is a stark reminder safety must be at the center of our national transit conversation,” Rouzer told Fox News Digital.

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Lawmakers said they are hoping to hear directly from officials on strategies to mitigate crime on public transit systems.

While public transportation has already been under the committee’s purview, the tragic killing of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte last month is fueling new urgency for House lawmakers on the panel.

The Thursday roundtable is directly tied to that incident, Fox News Digital is told.

Among the participants expected are Federal Transit Administration leader Marc Molinaro, who is a former House lawmaker, as well as American Public Transportation Association President Paul Skoutelas, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) CEO Randy Clarke.

A spokesperson for the House Transportation Committee, led by Chair Sam Graves, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that the roundtable would help inform legislation being crafted by the panel.

Then-Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., now FTA administrator, leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The committee is in the process of developing a broad, comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bill – sometimes referred to as the ‘highway bill,’ but it also includes policy changes and funding…