The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority eased the fears of many subway musicians yesterday, announcing a compromise to tweak their new Subway Performers Program before it goes into effect.
The rules the MBTA originally planned to implement this month included many restrictions on performances that never before existed in Boston, including a ban on all forms of amplified music and horns in subway stations.
While the MBTA’s new rules for performers still restrict subway musicians a great deal more than many of them would like, The Massachusetts Daily Collegian applauds the efforts of MBTA officials to meet in the middle on an issue near and dear to the hearts of many in the greater Boston area.
Revised guidelines, revealed yesterday by the MBTA to the Associated Press, will allow amplifiers, but with a maximum volume level of 80 decibels. The horn ban was modified to eliminate trumpets, but allow other brass and wind instruments. A new $25 fee will also be implemented for performance permits, and performers will be required to remain in “proper clothing” and “neat in appearance.”
The Collegian finds the solution reached to be agreeable, balancing both the safety concerns of the task force and the concerns of subway performers and many of the common people who ride the transit system to work every day. The latest development in this story shows that with the proper courses of action, compromise can be reached on potentially volatile issues. Both the MBTA and the Subway Artists Guild deserve praise for handling the situation in a professional, progressive way.
The MBTA announced the initial changes to their subway musician policies after a security task force evaluation performed an evaluation, recommending a complete ban on musician’s altogether. Officials said the point of the ban on horns and amplified music was to keep the music from drowning out the public address system.
The Subway Artists Guild rallied behind the cause appropriately, filing a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union and circulating a petition that corralled more than 6,000 commuter signatures. By presenting a petition, the guild showed the issue was much bigger than a matter of how it would affect the musicians themselves – they showed it would affect Bostonian culture in general.
The majority of the other restrictions on musicians the MBTA plans to implement are comparable to rules already in place in other metropolis areas around the country and world for street-side performers. According to the AP, transit systems in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., all have restrictions on their musicians, as well.
While the guild still has some reservations with new policies, the comprising done already is encouraging to all involved. A tradition and part of our Massachusetts culture appears to be saved.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian Editorial Board.
