Suzie’s story: Travelling on public transport can be daunting

Suzie has been Deaf from a young age and relied on lipreading. Learning British Sign Language (BSL) when she moved to Scotland six years ago transformed her communication, confidence and independence. Suzie uses public transport daily. While provision is good, information is not always accessible and last-minute changes are easily missed. Suzie would feel more confident if information was available visually and staff learnt some BSL. Below Suzie shares her story: Challenging barriers Growing up, I was much more accepting of barriers, but as I’ve got older, I’ve become more proactive and want to challenge these barriers. Learning sign language and becoming part of the deaf community has changed my attitude. Embracing BSL Now I use BSL, it’s easier to communicate. It’s opened up a whole new world for me. At Glasgow train station there’s a board with someone signing information. It makes me feel represented in a world where there is not enough representation of deaf people. Stressful sudden changes Usually, the information signed on the board is minimal – train times and platforms – and it’s just on the concourse. When there is a change of plan last-minute, I have never seen that information signed. It’s always an audio announcement. There’s a delay updating written information, which is very stressful. I use a speech-to-text app, but busy stations mean it misses a lot of what’s said. If there’s a sudden change and the announcement is only audio, I have to ask someone and hope they have time to write it down for me. Disrupted journeys Earlier this year, I planned to travel home by train after a day trip with a friend. Nothing arrived, there were no visual updates, no signs, nothing. My friend overheard a passerby discussing a replacement bus service. Had my friend not been with me, I’d have been none the wiser. It highlights my reliance on visual cues. Anxiety, fear and doubt Travelling on public transport can be daunting, when access is so limited. It impacts my confi