Mark Read: Horizons Regional Council spokesperson says an informed approach is needed to decide if they should play music on buses

A party bus - or the sound of silence.  

The Horizons Regional Council, which covers an area including Whanganui and Palmerston North, is seeking feedback on whether bus users prefer to ride with background music. 

Its released a three-question survey asking what genres, playlists or radio stations should be played. 

Transport Services Manager Mark Read told Jack Tame after talking to bus users, staff decided there needed to be an informed approach. 

He says a lot of Palmerston North buses are now electric, and people have said they're like a silent elevator. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The wheels on the bus go round and bound round
and bound round and bound though wheels on the bus
go round. And I just want you to be one
hundred percent confident in your own mind. It was not
me who called for this music. It was Ants this evening.
So in forty eight hours, when the song is still
sucking your head, you can't sleep at night. It's haunting

(00:22):
your dreams. Do not blame me, blame ANTS. Horizons Regional
Council wants to know if you want to listen to
some bangers while you are riding the bus. I think
we can all agree that is not a banger. The Council, however,
says that some Connect bus drivers want to play music
on the onboard speakers, but they're not sure if this
is going to annoy the passengers. So if you're in

(00:43):
Parbiston North, in Huanganui or in Fielding, you can tell
the council through a survey whether you're up for some
sick tunes on your bus ride. Mark Reid is Horizons
Regional Council, Manager of Transport Services And as with us
this evening, Kilder, Mark, are you yeah, very good?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thanks?

Speaker 1 (00:59):
What kind of music to the bus drivers want? To play.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hey, look, it's a range at the moment, and a
lot of them like to play radio stations, serious things.
Some of them like to not play anything at all.
So we really just want to go to provide some
climents for them and and the rest of the rest
of the people on board as well.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Well, maybe we could just get news sos B busy,
wouldn't it just get that? Look, we will get our
technical people in fact ants could probably do with a
couple of days out of the office. I can send
them down your way. He could come and make sure
that news soks BE is the only station that any
of your buses get you to be playing that no
complaints from the passengers even will be delighted where you go.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean I have I have heard from from the
early early returns that no one get said.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
You have you have technically minded people in the Horizons
region who saw that the questionnaire was very specifically and
explicitly about music on the bus. So so other buses
actually set up to play music.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, so all that buses can and some currently bus
drivers play at the front will play it throughout the bus,
and so they're all they're all capable. It's more just
how we want to do this going forward.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, have people been complaining about bus drivers playing music?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
So far? Not so much complaining, So what this has
really come about? So recently a lot of our buses
of Thomas North and Moves have been electric and so
great to have these these nice new comfortable buses for
act here some people, Hey, actually they're really quiet. Yeah,
sort of a bit a bit like sort of sending
in a silent elevator with you know, it doesn't know,

(02:36):
people who are not really sure who they are, and
that sort of feeling. So that's that's been more the
driver behind us rather than complaints around what music has
been being played. But yeah, just the more thinking around,
well how should we approach this?

Speaker 1 (02:51):
So I'm just going to readly for one the three
questions you're asking in the survey. Number one, do people
mind music being played on the bus? Number two? If
music has played, what genres, playlist, radio station should be played?
Number three should there be different rules for music at
different times of the day and or year? But the
thing is, on the bus these days, most people we headphones,
don't they?

Speaker 2 (03:09):
That was true. You get on the bus and most
people are buried in their phone or reading something on
that and listen to their own music. So just sitting
at their element too. And I guess whether it's silent
or music playing doesn't stop those people doing that either way.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah. Nice. So look, I appreciate that you can juggle
a few balls at the same time, but I'm sure
there are a couple of people out there saying, come on,
is this absolutely the most important thing the council needs
to be doing right now? Don't you need to be
focusing on other things? What do you What do you
say to that?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh? I mean, yeah, there there are always always time
for a various brands of issues, and you know, this
is one that that has peaked interest, believe it or not,
around our council table, and definitely one that I guess
we want to just make sure we provide people the
opportunity to provide them feedback on. And look, we've already

(04:01):
got seventy odd people having provided some feedback and that's
in the space of a few hours since this afternoon,
so it's obviously a matter that people people are interested in.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, it's probably a better turnout than the todunger City
councils having their elections.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Very much, Mark and good luck. I think it's a
great idea. What would I choose? I reckon Kanye West
first six albums on repeat and I reckon it should
be thrown over to the bus driver, right so the bus,
each bus driver should be able to make a call.
It's my bus, this is the music that I'm playing.
I'm in charge of the stereo. That's the end of that.
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(04:35):
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