Who do you call to get to a medical appointment when, due to age or health, you are not able to drive? In Lawton, there are a lot of numbers to call for wheelchair-accessible, inexpensive rides some which give door-to-door service to more places than just the doctor's office. The three transportation companies that offer such services include Lawton Area Transit System or LATS, Comanche Nation Transit System and for those with a Medicaid or SoonerCare card SoonerRide. "I'm amazed at the resources that are available for the community," said Karen Woodward when she disembarked from a special LATS bus tour highlighting accessibility to medical and community services the elderly or disabled use. Woodward, the chair for the Lawton Fort Sill Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women, Senior Summit members and others who work with the elderly and disabled took a LATS tour May 9. "All of our buses are handicapped accessible. So if we have anyone waiting at a bus stop with a wheelchair (walker or motorized chair), then this ramp will fold out," said Randy Anderson, LATS transit supervisor. He demonstrated how the ramp at the front of the bus flips up and over and extends about three feet from the bus. At the same time, the front of the bus dips down toward the pavement to lessen the slant on the ramp. Once on the bus, the wheelchair or motorized chair is locked into place. A shoulder strap and seatbelt pulls out from the side of the bus and is put over the person. Monday, May 21, 2012
