Portland NEMT Permits: PBOT Company, Vehicle, and Driver Rules (2027)

Portland permits NEMT companies itself. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) permits the company, then certifies each van and each driver that carries riders in the city, and it will not issue a new NEMT company permit until you show a contract with a Medicaid ride brokerage. City Code Chapter 16.40 has its own NEMT sections, and PBOT’s checklist and July 2026 fee schedule set what you file and pay.

Who sends Medicaid trips in Portland

Oregon pays for Medicaid rides through each coordinated care organization (CCO) and, for members outside a CCO, through regional open card brokerages, as the Oregon guide explains. OHA says every Healthier Oregon member moves from a CCO to open card in January 2027 (notice updated August 7, 2026). Portland spans Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, where OHA’s lists show three ride services:

Riders	Ride service	Where a company starts
Health Share of Oregon members	Ride to Care	Ride Connection provider support, 503-528-1751
Trillium Tri-County members	MTM Health	MTM’s Join Our Network page
Open card members	Tri-County MedLink	Transdev’s Oregon provider line, 866-336-2906

PBOT’s resources page names Ride Connection, at 9955 NE Glisan St., among the brokerages a new NEMT company should contract with first. Ride to Care tells its providers that any company picking up riders inside the city must carry city permits for its company, drivers, and vehicles. See Ride to Care, MTM Health, and Transdev Health Solutions for how each one adds companies.

Portland NEMT permit fees for 2026 to 2027

PBOT sets its fees each July in policy TRN-3.450. Exhibit F, effective July 1, 2026, sets these NEMT amounts:

Fee	Amount	When you pay
New company application	$287.50	With the application, nonrefundable
Company permit	$575.50 a year	At approval, and at each renewal
Vehicle, first permit	$259	After the company is approved
Vehicle renewal	$207	With the renewal, before it expires
Driver permit	$115 a year	For each driver
Background check run by PBOT	$60.50	For each driver, each year

PBOT’s company checklist, updated July 1, 2026, still lists the earlier amounts of $262.50, $525, $236.25, and $189, so confirm the total in the portal before you pay. Renewal prices hold only if your permits have not expired. The posted code prorates the decal fee for a van added partway through the year to the months left on the company permit.

What Portland’s city code says about NEMT

Chapter 16.40 regulates private for-hire transportation under the power ORS 221.495 gives the city. It defines an NEMT company as one that provides agency-sponsored, contracted transportation as defined in OAR 410-136-3000, Oregon’s Medicaid ride rule, and gives NEMT these sections:

• 16.40.700. Running an NEMT company without a city permit is a Class A violation. Running an uncertified NEMT driver or vehicle is Class B.
• 16.40.710. The yearly company application, the grounds for denial, and the one-year terms of driver and vehicle certifications.
• 16.40.730. Insurance.
• 16.40.740. Company duties: policies, a local agent, customer service, fares, and records.
• 16.40.750 and 16.40.760. Vehicle certification, age, inspection, markings, and decals.
• 16.40.770 and 16.40.780. Driver certification, disqualifying records, and conduct.

Section 16.40.980.C suspends the effective date of every chapter requirement for NEMT companies, vehicles, services, and drivers until City Council adopts replacement provisions. PBOT still lists non-emergency medical transport among the services that must apply, charges NEMT fees, runs NEMT driver training, and requires the brokerage contract first. Read the posted sections as what PBOT looks for, ask its regulatory program which ones it enforces today, and keep the answer in writing.

The posted sections also shape how you run. A permit cannot be transferred, and you tell the city at once if any part of the ownership changes hands. Inside Portland you may dispatch only your own certified drivers and vans, and you may not lend your permit to another operator. You keep driver, vehicle, and trip records for the permit term and two calendar years after, a locally based agent for service with weekday hours, and a customer service line with a local phone number and address that takes messages around the clock and answers within 24 hours. If riders pay you directly, you show the fare before they accept the ride, charge wheelchair riders fares comparable to everyone else, never use dynamic pricing, and hand over a receipt with the city’s complaint number.

How to get a PBOT NEMT company permit

1. Sign with a brokerage. PBOT’s FAQ says a new NEMT company permit is issued only after you confirm a valid contract with a broker.
2. Register the business. Register with the Oregon Secretary of State, and in Washington too if you operate there. Open a City of Portland Revenue Division tax account, which businesses working in Portland or Multnomah County must do within 60 days, and keep its certificate of compliance for PBOT.
3. Buy the insurance in the next section, with the city named on both policies.
4. Write your policies. The application asks for a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy, a nondiscrimination policy PBOT approves, and user terms of service. Our drug and alcohol policy template is a start.
5. Apply online. Submit the company application with the $287.50 application fee, the names of anyone owning more than 10 percent of the stock, and your agent and customer service contacts, and pay any old city fines first.
6. Add vehicles and drivers. After approval, submit each van and pay $259 per vehicle, then claim each driver in the portal.

A new company can take up to 60 days once every correct document is in, and a renewal up to 30. Renewing companies submit at least 30 days before expiration or face penalties.

Insurance for a Portland NEMT permit

PBOT’s checklist, updated July 1, 2026, and section 16.40.730 set these terms:

• General liability. At least $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate.
• Auto liability. A combined single limit of at least $500,000 covering scheduled, non-owned, and hired autos, with a schedule of covered vehicles. See hired and non-owned auto.
• The insurer. Rated A- or better by A.M. Best, and licensed in Oregon or an eligible surplus lines insurer.
• Additional insured. “The City of Portland, its Officers, Agents and Employees” on both policies. See additional insured.
• Notice and gaps. Thirty days’ notice to the city before a policy is canceled, expires, or is reduced. Any lapse is subject to a civil penalty, even if the insurer later backdates the coverage.
• Owner-operators. An independent contractor who drives under your permit carries the same coverage, limits, and endorsements.

Ride to Care, MTM Health, and Transdev set their own limits in each contract, so compare them with these city minimums and with NEMT insurance requirements before you buy.

Vehicle certification and inspections

Your company submits each van to PBOT for certification. The July 2026 checklist and the posted code ask for:

• Registration. A title alone is not enough.
• Age. Under 15 years from the manufacture date, whenever you bought it. PBOT can grant a two-year age exemption in limited categories under rule TRN-14.28, and the posted code lets wheelchair vans apply.
• Mechanical inspection. On PBOT’s form, by an ASE Master Mechanic or a Blue Seal shop, no older than six months when you submit it, with repair receipts for anything marked as needing repair. It applies once a van is more than a year old by model year, has 10,000 miles, or shows a check engine light.
• ADA certificate of compliance. Every wheelchair van is inspected each year, and the certificate can be no more than 12 months old. See wheelchair accessible vehicle.
• ODOT registration. Vehicles designed for 8 or more passengers register with ODOT’s Commerce and Compliance Division.

PBOT’s inspection form, approved August 17, 2021, fails a van automatically on brake operation, emission control equipment, or tires under 4/32 inch of tread. A van registered outside the Portland metro area must also meet DEQ’s Portland-metro emission standards. The posted code asks for the company name, van number, and booking phone number on both sides in letters at least 3 inches high, and a city-seal decal on the front and back windows that expires with the company permit. Keep a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, a hands-free phone accessory, and paper copies of the registration and insurance in every van. See NEMT vehicle signage.

Certifications last one year, and you send each van for recertification within the month before it expires. Return the decal within 21 days if PBOT revokes it or you do not renew.

Driver certification in Portland

Drivers apply through your company. You certify each one in PBOT’s online portal, where new drivers create an account and are claimed by the company, and a driver who works for two companies is certified by each.

• Background check, every year. PBOT runs it for $60.50 as of July 1, 2026, or your company uses a screener accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. PBOT’s FAQ says police and FBI checks do not qualify.
• Disqualifiers. The posted code lists a felony within 10 years, any felony involving physical harm, a sex offender registry match, listed misdemeanors or traffic crimes within 5 years, two or more traffic violations in 12 months, a driving-related suspension within 3 years, under a year of licensed driving, being under 21, or being unable to get car insurance. See disqualifying offenses.
• Training. New drivers, and drivers changing service types, pass PBOT’s NEMT driver training before a new permit is issued. The posted code gives drivers 30 days after certification to finish PBOT’s trainings, and 30 days for any it adds later.
• Business license. A driver working as an independent contractor needs a City of Portland business license before driving.
• Permit. $115 a year, posted in the van while on duty.

Recertify each driver within the month before the certification expires, and remove a driver in the portal within 24 hours after you part ways. The posted code caps driving at 12 hours in any 24, bars street hails, and has drivers report any arrest, crash, or license action to the city and every company they drive for within 24 hours. Oregon’s own driver standards still apply through your brokerage, as NEMT driver training explains.

Portland civil penalties

Section 16.40.930 sets the civil penalty table for private for-hire violations:

Class	First offense	Second	Third
A	$1,250	$2,500	$5,000
B	$1,000	$1,500	$2,500
C	$500	$750	$1,000
D	$250	$500	$750

Later offenses bring suspension or revocation, and offenses more than 36 months apart do not count as repeats. A dirty or poorly equipped van, or missing papers in it, is Class D in the posted code. An unpaid penalty becomes a suspension, and PBOT issues no permit, certification, or renewal until it is paid. PBOT’s FAQ says a driver found operating without a valid permit, or with one the company did not certify, gets a penalty and so does the company.

What to do first

1. Call the brokerages. Ride Connection at 503-528-1751, MTM Health, and Transdev at 866-336-2906, to ask who is adding companies in Portland.
2. Open your Revenue Division account at 503-823-5157 and get the certificate PBOT asks for.
3. Ask PBOT at regulatory@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-7483 which NEMT rules and fees apply to new companies today, given 16.40.980.C. Its office sees people by appointment only.
4. Get insurance quotes that name the city and meet the brokerage’s limits too.
5. Book inspections. An ASE inspection for each van no more than six months before you file, and an ADA check within the last 12 months for each wheelchair van.
6. Line up driver checks with an accredited screener or PBOT, and PBOT’s NEMT training for new drivers.
7. For airport pickups, contact the Port of Portland’s ground transportation office after PBOT permits you. The posted code bars NEMT work at Portland International Airport without the Port’s approval.