Hearing loss can be difficult to deal with in a number of situations, but one place that's usually problematic for those with hearing aids or hearing loss is getting a little more accommodating.
Indian Trails buses, including those making runs to casinos, serving motor coach groups, and taking passengers to destinations across Northwest Michigan, are installing a new technology to make it easier for passengers with hearing loss to hear what's going on.
Bus trips can be hard for those with hearing loss, as noisy conditions make it hard to discern what the driver or tour guide says. Indian Trails will be installing hearing loop technology in its buses, which is essentially an audio wire running around the interior of the coach, which transmits audio signals through a magnetic field directly to hearing aids, as if the words were being spoken in the person's ear.
"Why should hearing loss prevent you from enjoying a motor coach trip?" asks Jeff Deason, sales director for Indian Trails.
The technology has been used for years in Europe, but is increasing in use here in the U.S., including in New York City Transit information booths and taxi cabs.
Deason first heard about the technology on National Public Radio's "Science Friday" program last summer.
"I was driving between sales calls when I heard the Science Friday program," says Deason. "My father suffers from hearing loss and I thought it was a natural fit for a coach. I did a little research and it turns out that Michigan is a hotbed of hearing loop systems, with almost all the churches on the west side of the state having had the system installed. As church groups make up a large share of our business, it just makes sense."
The Indian Trails installations are the first fleet-wide hearing loops installed in U.S. buses that the company knows of.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jeff Deason, Indian Trails
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