OK: Public transportation needed to address homelessness and rural area residents

Public transportation is an important part in helping to address the needs of the homeless and those in rural areas who need assistance getting to jobs, doctor appointments and social gatherings.

Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., in a Chief Chat Nov. 21, spoke of how the Cherokee Nation is helping with transportation in rural areas.

“Cherokee Nation budgets more than $2 million annually for rural transit, leveraging federal funds to support our rural transit partners,” Hoskin said in his Chief Chat. “We subsidize rides for tribal citizens, which lowers their cost but also make low cost rides possible for everyone.”

The Nation budgets $2 million annually for rural transit, and leverages federal funding to support the rural transit partners, Hoskin said.

Transit partners of the Cherokee Nation are Pelivan, Ki Bois Area Transit, Muskogee County Transit Authority and Cimarron Public Transit. Non-Natives can also access transportation in Tahlequah on KATS, which individuals call to schedule a ride.

A press release Dec. 2 from Cherokee Nation announced the tribe has received a $10 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to construct a transit facility in Tahlequah in the Business and Technology Park. The facility will have maintenance bays, offices, dispatch operations, vehicle storage and training facilities. It will be leased to KATS.

A local organization, Tahlequah Resource Outreach Team, has been discussing how public transportation could happen in Tahlequah, and how it could help residents and those who are homeless.

An important part of addressing the homeless issue is transportation. Jeff Thorne, president of Step-Up Tahlequah and member of TROT, said the first thing is housing, then food and a job.

“How are you going to have a job in Tahlequah when most people who are homeless have no car?” Thorne has asked at several meetings of the group.

Tom Barlow, vice president of Step-Up, has been trying to get the city to “step up” on this issue since Ken Purdy was mayor, 2004-2011.

“This started because of the need of people who couldn’t get to work,” Barlow said. “Tahlequah is laid out in a nice big X, almost a cross, and a bus service on a regular basis could work really well here.”

The route could be created from the CN, to Northeastern State University, and Northeastern Health System to Tahlequah High School and end at Anthis-Brennan Family Sports Center, Barlow said.

“There could be a 7 a.m. bus, an 8 a.m. bus, and so on, so you can go [to a stop] and know there will be a bus there [at a particular time],” Thorne said.

During a TROT meeting in December 2024, Thorne presented his ideas of a tiny home community that would help folks get back on their feet.

If someone wants to develop a subdivision with lots smaller than a property is zoned for and build tiny homes, that person can do a “Planned Unit Development,” said Planning and Development Director Paige Harjo at the time.

“It is similar to a regular subdivision process,” Harjo said. “We have to make sure everything follows the zoning ordinance. The PUD section, Section 725, has the pre-application conference, the application form, the development form, review criteria, a plat, design and construction and building permit.”

Thorne said transportation goes hand-in-hand with this type of development. A tiny home development proposal by Step-Up was prepared by William Silk, an American Institute of Architects member emeritus.

“The Homebase plan the city paid $40,000 for, came out with 10 strategic action plans, and stated how tiny homes would address the strategic plan,” Thorne said.

Step-Up is not a solution to homelessness; it is a way to approach homelessness and make an impact, Thorne said.

Thorne said public transportation would be close to a site being considered for the development, using either KATS or the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians’ transit system.

“This PUD is an integral part of the Homebase plan,” said Thorne. “Once you have an address, a school bus will come and pick you up, and you can keep kids in school, which helps in restoring the family.”

Thorne’s message for years has been: Once people have a roof over their heads, their next step is a job. To get a job, a person needs transportation.

“How are they going to get a job if the KATS bus is supposed to pick you up at 10 and they pick you up at 10:45?” Thorne said. “If you don’t have a regular bus schedule, you won’t be able to keep a job if you don’t have a car, and you probably won’t have a car if you are quasi-homeless.”

When he learned of the grant for the new transit facility for the Nation, Thorne said he hopes it helps alleviate scheduling issues and allows folks to get to where they need to go on time.

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