Music interpretation
Are blaring classical melodies at bus depot meant to ‘soothe passengers’ or repel vagrants?
“If reducing loitering is a side benefit, we’ll take it.”
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Central Bus Terminal is alive with the sound of music — and it’s getting on people’s nerves.
The terminal’s less-than-stereophonic PA system blares out classical compositions from early morning to late evening. Its 30-hour loop of recordings includes Bach and Beethoven, from delicate piano sonatas to grinding organ cannons.
Transit officials say they started the music in April to create “a plea- surable environment for our customers.” But critics say it is a not-sosubtle effort to keep the homeless and younger people from hanging around.
“Some of it is this old school, vampires coming from underneath the stairs type music,” said Frank Young III, operations director for the Coalition to End Homelessness. “It’s just loud and annoying … You can’t get away from it. They have the speakers everywhere.”
One Facebook user posting while
Transit spokeswoman Mary Shaffer, speaking of the classical music at the bus terminal
waiting for a bus called it “vagrant repellent” and added, “LOVE IT!!!”
Transit spokeswoman Mary Shaffer said studies show classical music “calms people and is soothing.” But since the music started, officials have noticed fewer vagrants at the facility, she said.
“If reducing loitering is a side benefit, we’ll take it,” Shaffer said.
Many bus passengers don’t want to hang around, either. Even though Shaffer said the music’s volume was lowered several weeks ago, many bus riders interviewed didn’t notice a change. They say it still makes cellphone conversations difficult.
“You can hear the music way over the buses,” said Paula Brown of Sunrise. “I try to just get here, get on my bus and get away from here.”
Torvoris Lee of Fort Lauderdale, a musician, said he enjoys the classical music.
“There’s a certain connection you can’t express with words,” Lee said, although he admitted the terminal “could get better speakers.”
For pedestrians approaching from Broward Boulevard, the terminal sounds like a carnival carousel.
“At night time, you know where the bus terminal is at because you can hear the music,” said Dia- mond Tinch of Fort Lauderdale. “It’s very corny.”
The use of classical music in public spaces to discourage certain elements goes back decades. A 1990s Rutgers University study of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City cited officials saying “classical music calms travelers, welcomes suburban customers and discourages transient young hustlers from remaining, since they tend not to like that kind of music.”
It has been used as a crime deterrent at transit facilities in a variety of cities, including Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis.
Many travelers wear headphones to shut out the sound; others say it’s annoying hearing the same music over and over.
“If you’re tired after work, it doesn’t sound good,” said Jean Jimmy of Hollywood.
Edgar Rodriguez of Sunrise usually has his headphones with him, but he’d appreciate it if the terminal mixed up the type of music it plays.
“Maybe some news or something interesting,” Rodriguez said. “Something that’s just a little bit different. Not just to sit here and hear bad music.”
“They know people don’t like that kind of music. That’s awful music,” said Richard Sherrod of Fort Lauderdale. “I think they did it to run the homeless away, I really do.”
“At night time, you know where the bus terminal is at because you can hear the music. It’s very corny.”
— Diamond Tinch, Fort Lauderdale resident