Does Classical Music at Train Stations Really Deter Crime? | Transportation Nation
When New Jersey Transit upgraded the public address system at its Newark transit hub a year ago, they began piping in classical music along with the announcements on train arrivals and connections. The authority subscribed to a music service and station agents could select from different channels, which also include easy-listening and jazz.
The idea, said a NJ Transit spokesperson, is to relax customers βand make it more pleasant to traverse the facilities.β
But in cities from Atlanta to Minneapolis and London, thereβs often a bigger strategy at work: turn on the great composers and turn away the loiterers, vagrants and troublemakers who are drawn to bus stations, malls and parking lots. Last month, the Associated Press reported on a YMCA in Columbus, OH that began piping Vivaldi into its parking lot, and claiming to disperse petty drug dealers as a result.
via Does Classical Music at Train Stations Really Deter Crime? | Transportation Nation.