LATS agreement will allow Lawton students to ride buses for free

An agreement that gives the students and staff of Lawton Public Schools free rides on Lawton’s mass transit system will go to the City Transit Trust for approval today.

The trust, whose members also are the City Council, has set the agreement every year since 2017, after the transportation plan was launched as a pilot program under an agreement between LATS and Lawton Public Schools (LPS). LATS first approached the district in 2017 with the idea of providing free transportation to its students. The program grew from one initially centered on secondary students to one that encompasses students from age 6 through 12th grade, as well as LPS staff members.

It was an easy step for LATS because the system’s fixed bus routes have always been configured to include commonly-used locations. That means all schools and LPS facilities are directly on a LATS fixed route or within an easy walk, with access to those buses provided for free by simply showing the ID card that all LPS students, faculty and staff hold. In exchange, the district pays LATS $70,000 annually, under an agreement already approved by the Lawton Board of Education.

The agreement specifies students at all LPS elementary, middle and high schools, the Life Ready Center and Gateway Success Center are provided unlimited access to LATS fixed routes at no cost, as are LPS staff at those facilities. The “cost” for those riders is showing their current LPS photo ID (those without will be charged a fee to ride). Those under age 6 must be accompanied by an adult.

The new agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2024, and continues through June 30, 2025, the end of the fiscal year. The renewal is automatic if no new agreement is in place by June 30 of each year, under the term’s agreements. The $70,000 fee is the fourth year LPS has paid that cost.

That agreement also specifies LPS and LATS must develop and implement a marketing and public information program to give students and staff information on using public transportation and other alternate transportation modes to and from campuses, in lieu of private vehicles.

LATS General Manager Ryan Landers has said the agreement benefits LATS and Lawton Public Schools.

For LATS, one of the biggest benefits is increased ridership numbers on its fixed routes, important when the system applies for the federal funding that covers half of operational costs each year, Landers said. And, that young ridership is consistent because the district’s ID cards also work on weekends and during the summer.

LPS finds the agreement equally important, with several arguments dating to the earliest days. The big one: even students who rely on buses can participate in after school activities because they now have a way home. And, those who miss their school bus for some reason now have another transportation option. LPS also discovered early in the agreement that the service was a recruitment tool: staff members don’t need their own transportation because LATS buses start their runs at 6 a.m. weekdays.

“We love that it services our students and our staff. It has only grown in the number of riders as we continue the program,” said Lynn Cordes, executive director of communications for Lawton Public Schools.

Landers has said other changes being planned for LATS — including changes in route times that will let buses run past 7 p.m. — also will benefit young riders.