What Is the Certified Transport Specialist (CTS) Certificate? Cost, Renewal, and Who Asks for It

What the Certified Transport Specialist course is

Certified Transport Specialist, or CTS, is the driver course from NEMTAC, the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission. NEMTAC is a nonprofit and has been an ANSI-accredited standards developer since 2018. It built the course to match its own Transportation Specialist Education Standard, NEMTAC 3001-2025. A driver takes it online, on any device, at their own pace, and earns the certificate by passing a final exam.

CTS is a certificate for one person. It is not company accreditation, which is a separate review of your whole business (see NEMT accreditation). Do not confuse it with Coordinated Transportation Solutions, a broker that also goes by CTS (broker page).

The 2026 course page lists 34 lessons, with a quiz after each topic and a final exam. NEMTAC’s course overview names these topics:

• Duty of care and legal responsibility
• HIPAA, and fraud, waste, and abuse awareness
• Civil rights, nondiscrimination, and the ADA
• Ethics, communication, and customer service
• Challenging passenger behavior and personal safety
• Mobility device passenger awareness and safe lifting
• Trip management and documentation
• Life safety, which the overview describes as CPR, emergency response, infection control, and fire safety
• DNR and end-of-life transport awareness

The course has no hands-on part. Where a program wants an in-person CPR class, as Louisiana does, or practice with a lift and tiedowns, a driver needs those classes as well. See NEMT driver training for the full list of courses a new driver usually needs.

What it costs and how long it lasts

As of October 2026, NEMTAC’s course page lists the 2026 CTS course at $55 per driver. The page says that bulk and enterprise orders go through NEMTAC by email.

NEMTAC says a driver who completes the course is certified for two years. Its course list shows no separate CTS renewal course as of October 6, 2026, so ask NEMTAC before a certificate expires. Its overview PDF lists 866-636-8221 and info@nemtac.co.

The two-year term is not always the term your payer uses. Louisiana asks drivers on its ELOC wheelchair rides to renew the NEMTAC courses every year, which is covered below.

Who asks for a CTS certificate

Federal Medicaid law sets only a few driver minimums: a valid license, no exclusion from federal health programs, a process for drug law violations, and a process to tell the state each driver’s driving history. CMS says that beyond those, states set the standards (SMD 23-006, September 28, 2023). A course counts only where your state, plan, or broker names it. As of October 2026, these programs name CTS in their own documents:

• Louisiana, for ELOC rides. ELOC is Louisiana’s door-through-door wheelchair service, covered on the Louisiana guide. The state’s managed care manual, updated May 28, 2026, says drivers who provide ELOC rides must complete NEMTAC’s education requirements, which are the Advanced Mobility Device Securement certificate and the CTS certificate, and renew them annually. They also need passenger assistance and safety training and sensitivity and disability awareness training. Every other Louisiana driver follows the manual’s core list, which names PASS.
• WellTrans, in Indiana. Its Indiana Driver Update Form (the file is dated August 4, 2026) accepts “CTAA Pass Basic or NEMTAC CTS” on the passenger training line. The form also names “NEMTAC CTS Hand Only CPR” as one choice on its CPR line and “NEMTAC CTS Defensive Driver Awareness” on its defensive driving line. The current course page lists no defensive driving lesson, so ask WellTrans what proof it wants for those lines. See how to join WellTrans.

Other programs name a different course or none. Colorado’s NEMT rule (10 CCR 2505-10, rule 8.014, in effect since July 10, 2026) requires drivers to be 18, to have a year of driving experience, and to hold CPR and naloxone certification. It names no course. For the course most often named instead, see PASS certification.

If your broker does not list CTS, do not buy it on a guess. Ask for the accepted courses in writing, as How to get NEMT certified advises.

CTS and the securement and stretcher certificates

NEMTAC sells two hands-on programs that bundle the CTS course with an in-person skills check. Mobility Device Securement (MDS, formerly Advanced Mobility Device Securement) covers wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Certified Stretcher Operator (CSO) covers stretcher transports and is valid for two years, per NEMTAC’s April 2026 overview. For what crews learn, see NEMT stretcher training.

CTS is not the only way in. NEMTAC’s education page says a driver must first hold a recognized passenger safety and customer service course before either program, and lists CTS, CTAA’s PASS, or an organization-issued certificate that meets NEMTAC 3001-2025. The certificate must be current and show a certification date, a unique document identifier, and an expiration date.

How to keep CTS on a driver’s file

1. Ask first. Confirm in writing that each broker accepts CTS before you pay $55 per driver.
2. Save the certificate. When the driver passes the final exam, file a copy with the date, the unique ID, and the expiration date visible.
3. Log it. On the driver training log, write CTS on the passenger assistance line, with the date done, the proof on file, and the next due date.
4. Set the due date by the strictest rule. A driver on Louisiana ELOC rides has a certificate that lasts two years but a manual that says renew every year, so the log shows one year.
5. Renew before the date passes. Ask NEMTAC how to renew ahead of time, and remove the driver from rides that need CTS if it lapses.