Transportation
Airports
Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Hearing loops at both concourses and all gate areas. See press release (PDF)
Hear the Difference a Hearing Loop Makes: Airport Boarding Call (video, 20 seconds)
Eugene Oregon gate service counter
The front of the service desk displays the blue hearing loop sign.
Rail Cars, Subways
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train car. 755 new BART cars have hearing loops.
Hear the Difference a Hearing Loop Makes: Subway information booth (video, 2 minutes)
New York City subway ticket counter with hearing loop
Travel is fun! It broadens our world and exposes us to people, cultures, and environments we may not see in our own back yard. For the hard of hearing, though, travel can also be extremely stressful. Background noises, cavernous rooms, and competing announcements makes it difficult to hear clearly. Missing gate announcements, not hearing your desired train stop, misunderstanding the boarding gate number, not being able to hear the tour guide on the bus – all of these things happen routinely when we travel. If you hear well, travelers adapt and cope with unpredictable changes. However, if you don’t hear well, it adds to the inherent stresses of travel and can turn joyful anticipation into frustration and fear. Assistive listening systems work – and can help to take some of the worry and stress out of travel and replacing it with reassurance and comfort.
Possible Assistive Listening System Locations
In such transient settings, as in other transient venues, alternative listening systems are impractical. One just isn’t going to check out an infrared receiver and headphones at Detroit Metro Airport’s Gate C27. But with a hearing loop, all a person needs to do is to click a button on their hearing aid or cochlear implant and instantly be able to hear more clearly!
- Airport departure gate waiting areas
- Airport service desks (baggage claim, customer service, departure gate service counters, ticketing counters, visitor information)
- Airport waiting rooms
- Buses and service desks
- Ferries and service desks
- Rail (light rail, subways, trains): platforms and ticket counters
Resources
- Paragraph template and checklist. Describe your assistive listening system on your webpage. Promoting Your Assistive Listening System, with Checklist by the Center for Hearing Access (2 pages, pdf)
- Airport simulation in and out of the loop Starkey audio clips: airport baggage claim, airport ticketing area, and information desk (website, 16-31 seconds)
- Blog post, Flying with Hearing Loss Could Soon Get Easier, HLAA, May 29, 2024 (webpage)
- Blog post, Flying with Hearing Loss Can Be Challenging HLAA, May 25, 2023 (webpage)
- List, National and international airport list Updated by Loop New Mexico (2 pages, pdf)
- Article “Hearing Loop Technology Is Taking Off at Airports Around the World” Frazier, Hearing Life Magazine, March/April 2019 (5 pages, pdf)
- Zotero online library (air travel) of nearly 60 articles, websites, and examples
- Zotero online library (transportation) of 50+ articles, websites, and examples