# Pennsylvania Shared Ride Program in 2027: How the Senior and Disability Fares Buy Van Service

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/guides/pennsylvania-shared-ride-program/ · Updated 2026-10-02

Pennsylvania's shared ride program is PennDOT's discount on advance-reservation van rides. Riders 65 and older pay 15% of the shared ride fare and the Lottery pays up to 85%. Riders 18 to 64 with disabilities get a similar discount for trips no other program covers. One local grantee in each area runs the service, and it may hire private van companies as subcontractors once PennDOT verifies them.

- Seniors pay 15% of the shared ride fare, rounded up to the nearest nickel, and PennDOT pays the rest up to $63.75 a trip.
- The disability program covers riders 18 to 64 outside ADA service areas, only when no other program pays, and never in Philadelphia.
- PennDOT contracts with one grantee per area. A van company gets this work as a subcontractor that the grantee lists and PennDOT verifies.
- Same-day trips, no-shows, and trips outside the approved hours, area, or fares are not reimbursed.
- PennDOT is studying new ways to fund shared ride, because rising costs strain a model that relies on fares.

## How the shared ride program works

Pennsylvania pays for two discounts on the same local van service. PennDOT's Senior Shared-Ride Transportation Program is funded by the Lottery, and its Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Transportation Program by the Public Transportation Trust Fund. Both buy trips on each county's shared ride service, which PennDOT's guidelines (July 1, 2025) define as door-to-door or curb-to-curb rides, open to the general public, on no fixed route, with a fare for every rider.

Riders book by the prior business day and agree to share the vehicle. Service is never door-through-door, so drivers do not take riders inside buildings. Each provider sets its own service area, days, hours, and fares, and PennDOT approves them every year.

PennDOT contracts with one shared ride provider in each area, called the grantee. It may be a transit authority, a county office, a nonprofit, or a transportation company, and the county decides who it is with PennDOT's approval. PennDOT's performance report for fiscal year 2024-25 (July 2024 to June 2025) lists the provider for every county and counts more than four million shared ride trips a year statewide. For how Medical Assistance rides work in each county, see the [Pennsylvania state guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/pennsylvania/).

### The two programs side by side

The two programs share one service but differ on who qualifies and who may pay. As of PennDOT's July 1, 2025 guidelines:

| Rule | Senior Shared-Ride | Persons with Disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Age 65 and older, with proof of age | Age 18 to 64, with proof of disability |
| Where | All 67 counties | Every county but Philadelphia |
| Rider pays | 15% of the shared ride fare | 15% of the fare or the full ADA paratransit fare, whichever is more |
| Others who may pay the rider's share | Approved sponsors | No one |
| PennDOT pays | Up to 85%, from the Lottery Fund | Up to 85%, from the Public Transportation Trust Fund |
| Trips covered | Any purpose, with a nursing home limit | Only trips no other program pays for, outside ADA areas |

Riders register with the local provider. Seniors show one of 16 approved documents, such as a U.S. driver's license, a passport, or a statement of age from Social Security; Medicare and Social Security cards are not accepted. PwD riders show proof such as SSI or SSDI records, documentation from a physician or social worker, or an ADA functional assessment. Riders can also apply online through PennDOT's Find My Ride, where a senior can enter a Pennsylvania driver's license or ID number as proof of age and have it checked against motor vehicle records.

## Who pays what on each trip

The math starts from the provider's general public fare. A senior pays 15% of it, rounded up to the nearest nickel, and PennDOT reimburses the provider the rest. Since July 1, 2023, PennDOT pays no more than $63.75 for any trip, which is 85% of a $75 fare, however high the full fare is.

Here is how that works on three example fares under the July 1, 2025 guidelines:

| Full shared ride fare | Senior pays | PennDOT pays the provider |
|---|---|---|
| $23.30 | $3.50 (15% is $3.495, rounded up) | $19.80 |
| $40.00 | $6.00 | $34.00 |
| $80.00 | $12.00 | $63.75, the cap |

Above a $75 fare, the rider's 15% and PennDOT's cap no longer add up to the full fare.

Approved third-party sponsors may pay all or part of a senior's 15%: area agencies on aging, health care facilities, MATP, and nonprofit social service groups, including churches that qualify. Each sponsor must be named in the grantee's application and approved by PennDOT. The PwD program allows no sponsor, so the rider pays the co-pay from their own funds; a caretaker paying from the rider's money does not count as a sponsor.

Three cases follow their own rules:

- **MATP.** For members 65 and older who have both Medicare and Medical Assistance, MATP pays the senior's share when the trip fits general public service: reserved a working day ahead, inside the provider's area and hours, at the general public fare (MATP Standards and Guidelines, rev. November 2016). A trip outside those rules is an MATP trip paid at an MATP rate. The same standards have MATP cover a high fare's amount above PennDOT's cap; they were written when the cap was $42.50.
- **Nursing homes.** The Lottery will not pay for trips to Medical Assistance services for nursing home residents whose transportation is in the home's per diem rate. The provider bills the nursing home the full general public fare.
- **The PwD program.** It is the payer of last resort. It will not pay when MATP, ADA paratransit, a waiver, a group home or personal care home, an adult training facility, a sheltered workshop, a psychiatric clinic, or school transportation can, and a rider who refuses a referral to another program loses the discount.

Providers may not ask riders for donations, and no part of an escort fare for an escort under 65 is reimbursed. An escort fare needs PennDOT's written approval of both the fare and the rules for when an escort is needed.

### Trips the program will not pay for

Under the July 1, 2025 guidelines, PennDOT does not reimburse:

- Same-day trips, unless PennDOT approves them in writing
- Exclusive-ride taxi service, charters, excursions, and sightseeing
- Service outside the area, days, hours, or fares the grantee filed with PennDOT
- School bus and limousine service
- Canceled trips and no-shows, and any penalty or no-show fee

PennDOT's questions and answers add some room. Its reviewers accept a pickup within 30 minutes of the promised time, even when that falls just outside service hours. An executive director may approve trips beyond normal hours or area, up to five round trips a month, with a note in the scheduling system. A late hospital discharge that pushes a ride past closing time can also be approved that way.

## How fares are set and changed

Each grantee sets one general public fare structure, and the senior and PwD discounts are figured from it. PennDOT's guidelines require the fare to meet the cost of regular service for the general public and to be distance-based; older structures that are not distance-based stay until the grantee's next fare increase. Pennsylvania's rule, 67 Pa. Code 425.7, adds that a shared ride fare must spread the cost across several riders and be lower than an equal exclusive-ride fare.

A grantee that is not regulated by the Public Utility Commission changes fares this way:

1. **Send the change to PennDOT** at least 60 days before it takes effect.
2. **Wait for written approval** before charging the new fare or billing it.
3. **Tell the public** 30 days before the new fare starts.
4. **Update PennDOT's data system** within 30 days after it starts.

A PUC-regulated grantee sends PennDOT its fare increase at the same time it files with the PUC. If its PUC tariff offers the senior discount, the PUC's 2020 tariff rules require their exact wording, which sets the senior rate at 15% of the shared ride rate for carriers under contract with PennDOT, and the discount may only appear alongside the contract services rule. See [Pennsylvania PUC paratransit rules](https://nemtguide.com/guides/pennsylvania-puc-paratransit-rules/) for how tariffs and rate changes work.

Under 67 Pa. Code 425.7, county systems and local transportation organizations may not design fares to earn a profit, and PennDOT's guidelines let it recoup excess program revenue. Fares vary widely by county. [Crawford County's](https://nemtguide.com/states/pennsylvania/crawford-county/) page shows one distance table and what a senior pays on each line.

## Where a private van company fits

The county controls who provides shared ride service. PennDOT's guidelines say counties have the exclusive right to provide public transportation, unless a borough or city provides it, and a private company needs authority or a contract from a county or authorized municipality, or authority from the PUC. So the door is the grantee.

Grantees may buy driving from private companies. Where a county coordinates several carriers, Pennsylvania's coordination rule, 67 Pa. Code 425.13a, gives private carriers the fullest opportunity to offer service through a competitive bid and has the coordinator choose carriers at the lowest responsible cost. When a coordinator drives some trips itself, PennDOT pays it no more than the lowest responsible bid for comparable service.

Your trips count only if PennDOT knows about you first. The July 1, 2025 guidelines require the grantee to enter each subcontractor in PennDOT's data system and get it verified, and to get written approval before any change. Trips by an unlisted company are not eligible, so confirm you are listed before your first ride.

### PUC authority for subcontractors

The answer depends on the contract. A PennDOT policy dated October 24, 1988, still printed in its July 2010 guidelines, lets counties and transit authorities that set the days, hours, and fares and take the reservations subcontract with carriers with or without a PUC certificate. The PUC's own exemption list (rev. July 17, 2025) covers counties under contract with transit authorities when the rides serve residents and stay under municipal control. Ask each grantee what its bid requires. For any other paid trip with both ends in Pennsylvania, the PUC's FAQ (rev. June 25, 2024) says you need PUC authority unless an exemption applies, and it fines $1,000 per violation, so private-pay riders need paratransit authority regardless.

### Work beyond the discount

Shared ride grantees also carry trips that fall outside public shared ride rules. PennDOT's report calls this exclusive human service or non-public transportation: rides for human service programs beyond the published times or areas. Same-day trips, door-through-door help, and exclusive private-pay rides fall outside the program too. These are often where a small company fills a gap. See [subcontract NEMT trips](https://nemtguide.com/guides/subcontract-nemt-trips/) for how to structure that work, and [area agency on aging transportation](https://nemtguide.com/guides/area-agency-on-aging-transportation/) for senior ride contracts outside shared ride.

### How to get started

1. **Find your county's grantee** on PennDOT's transit service map or in Table 1 of the fiscal year 2024-25 performance report.
2. **Ask its procurement office** whether it subcontracts shared ride, MATP, or human service trips, and when bids open. [rabbittransit](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/rabbittransit/) and [Washington County](https://nemtguide.com/states/pennsylvania/washington-county/) show two ways grantees buy driving.
3. **Settle your PUC authority** for the contract and for any private work.
4. **Confirm you are listed** in PennDOT's data system before the first program trip.
5. **Set up your records** to meet the audit rules below.

## What records a shared ride trip needs

PennDOT figures overpayments trip by trip, so your records carry the payment. Chapter 425 requires records that trace each trip from reservation to dispatch to completion to billing, a driver's log with the names of the seniors carried, and backup data kept for five years or until PennDOT's audit. Drivers check each senior's identification at boarding under the grantee's approved procedure.

The July 1, 2025 guidelines add what a reservation must show: the rider's name, the date and time, the pickup, and the destination. Every exception needs a note in the scheduling system, such as a same-day address correction, a late discharge, or a director's approval. Fares must be documented and reconciled, because auditors check that co-pays were actually collected. Registration records stay on file for three years after final payment.

Reviews can come unannounced from the Office of State Inspector General, the Comptroller's Bureau of Audits, or PennDOT's Bureau of Public Transportation. Overpayments found on a per-trip basis come back through lower future payments or a full refund. The grantee works to this calendar, so ask when it needs your trip data each month:

| Due | What the grantee must have done |
|---|---|
| 20th of every month | Invoice for the prior month's trips, with a Revenue Replacement Report in eGrants |
| May | Public transportation operating application |
| August 15 | Final unaudited budget; the year's report goes to the auditing firm |
| October 31 | First quarter progress report |
| December 31 | Final audited budget and the independent auditor's financial report |
| January 31 | Second quarter progress report |
| April 30 | Third quarter progress report |

PennDOT makes no grant changes after May 1 of the grant year and will not raise a grant to cover a shortfall from an earlier year.

## What may change: PennDOT's shared ride study

PennDOT says the program is under strain. Its fiscal year 2024-25 performance report says the model was designed more than 40 years ago and relies heavily on fares. Costs have risen, trips are longer as medical services consolidate, and there are fewer riders per vehicle. Federal relief and PennDOT stabilization funds are largely spent, and the report warns that shared ride service could face financial collapse in many counties within the next few years.

Phase 1 of PennDOT's Shared-Ride Transportation Study named four alternatives to today's fare-based reimbursement: capping passenger co-pays, realigning revenue with cost, funding by a formula based on service statistics, and funding per capita. The report says many of these cannot happen under current law. For Phase 2, PennDOT proposes an advisory committee of rider advocates, providers, legislators, and the state agencies that fund rides to weigh the options.

For a van company, that means the rates and rules behind shared ride work may change. Watch your grantee's board meetings and fare notices. For the wider Pennsylvania picture, see the [state guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/pennsylvania/), and for adding private senior rides, see [senior transportation business](https://nemtguide.com/guides/senior-transportation-business/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Who can ride the Pennsylvania shared ride program at the discount?

Anyone may ride shared ride service by paying the full fare. The senior discount is for people 65 and older who register with their local provider and show proof of age, such as a driver's license or passport. The disability discount is for people 18 to 64 who show proof of disability, for trips outside ADA paratransit areas that no other program pays for. Both need a reservation by the prior business day.

### How much does a senior pay for a shared ride trip?

Fifteen percent of the local shared ride fare, rounded up to the nearest nickel, under PennDOT's guidelines dated July 1, 2025. PennDOT pays the rest from Lottery funds, up to $63.75 a trip since July 1, 2023. An approved sponsor, such as an area agency on aging, a health care facility, MATP, or a qualifying nonprofit, may pay the senior's share instead.

### Can my NEMT company get shared ride trips?

Only through the grantee that holds the PennDOT agreement for your county. Grantees may subcontract, and where a county coordinates several carriers, Pennsylvania's rule gives private carriers the fullest opportunity to bid. The grantee must enter you in PennDOT's data system, and PennDOT must verify you, before your trips can be billed to the program.

### Do I need PUC authority to drive shared ride trips for a county?

Ask the grantee before you bid. A PennDOT policy from October 24, 1988, printed in its July 2010 guidelines, lets counties and transit authorities that keep control of the service subcontract with carriers with or without a PUC certificate. The PUC requires authority for other paid trips with both ends in Pennsylvania, so you need paratransit authority for any public or private-pay rides of your own.

### Does the program pay for no-shows or same-day trips?

No. PennDOT reimburses only completed trips, and penalties and no-show fees are not eligible. Same-day trips are not eligible unless PennDOT approves them in writing. A same-day change to a trip booked the day before, such as a new time or a corrected address, still counts if the scheduler notes why.

### Is the disability program available in Philadelphia?

No. State law, 74 Pa.C.S. 1516, lets community transportation systems in every county except a county of the first class apply, and PennDOT's guidelines say the program is not available in Philadelphia County. Seniors 65 and older can still use the senior discount there, since that program runs in all 67 counties.

## Official resources

- [PennDOT: Senior shared ride and Persons with Disabilities programs](https://www.pa.gov/agencies/penndot/traveling-in-pa/public-transit-options/seniors-and-persons-with-disabilities)
- [PennDOT: Shared ride and PwD guidelines and policies (July 1, 2025)](https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/penndot/documents/programs-and-doing-business/transit/funding-and-legislation/shared-ride-pwd-guidelines-and-policies-7-2025.pdf)
- [PennDOT: Public transit service map (find each county's shared ride provider)](https://gis.penndot.gov/transitmap/)
- [PennDOT: Find My Ride (apply for shared ride programs online)](https://findmyride.penndot.pa.gov/)
- [Pennsylvania Code: 67 Pa. Code Chapter 425, Shared-ride transportation service reimbursement](https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/067/chapter425/chap425toc.html)
- [PA PUC: Motor carrier forms and applications](https://www.puc.pa.gov/motor-carrier/forms-applications/)