ATLANTA — An investigation by the Georgia Department of Transportation found that the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority violated numerous safety rules, but MARTA has called investigation “flawed and biased.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a copy of the investigation report, as well as written MARTA responses. The Georgia DOT report said the transit agency had not effectively implemented safety monitoring, that it allowed safety officers to work around the clock without breaks, and it found evidence of a “toxic culture” where officers were afraid to report violations.
In MARTA’s response, it wrote that the state DOT didn’t bother to interview agency managers, was one-sided about matters that are primarily labor issues. And the agency told the newspaper that nothing suggested employees or the public were placed at risk.
The report comes as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigates a whistleblower complaint, the Journal-Constitution reports, and as a former safety officer sued the agency, sahying he was fired for reporting safety violations.
