Harris County RIDES Program (2027): How Ride Companies Win the County Contract and Get Paid

Harris County runs its own ride program for older adults and people with disabilities, and it pays private companies to drive every trip. RIDES, run by the county’s Housing and Community Development Department, began in October 2003 to fill gaps in METRO and METROlift service across the county’s 1,772 square miles. It owns no vehicles, so contracted shared ride and taxi companies drive its trips, joined in 2025 by a national rideshare company for same-day rides.

How the RIDES program works

A Harris County resident qualifies at 65 or older, or with a disability shown by an SSI award letter or a doctor’s letter, when METRO is out of reach or there is no other way to travel. Riders enroll directly or through one sponsoring agency. The county lists more than 40 health and human service agencies that work with it, including the Area Agency on Aging, Harris Health, and the cities of Baytown and Pasadena.

The money works like a matched fare card. The rider or the agency pays 40% of the trip, and federal grant funds pay the other 60%, so each $6 loaded on a RIDES card buys $15 of rides. Value on the card expires with the grant that funded it. On July 15, 2024, Commissioners Court accepted a $2,530,000 Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 grant for 2022 to keep RIDES running, for use through December 31, 2027. See Section 5310 grants for how that money reaches ride companies.

Riders choose among three kinds of service:

• Shared rides. Booked by phone with the rider’s chosen company by 2 p.m. the day before, for trips Monday through Friday. Riders share the van, ride no more than 90 minutes in normal conditions, and may bring one adult companion.
• Taxi. Same day, 24 hours a day, paid by the meter. Up to four people with the same pickup and drop-off ride for one fare. On Harris County holidays, taxis are the only RIDES service.
• Rideshare vouchers. Since 2025, riders who sign the county’s opt-in agreement can take same-day rideshare trips within the service area.

RIDES also sells its service to neighbors. Under interlocal agreements, Galveston’s Island Transit pays the county up to $400,000 from May 25, 2026 to May 24, 2027, Gulf Coast Transit District $72,000 for trips in Pearland from August 23, 2026, and Meals on Wheels Montgomery County $200,000 from December 19, 2026. The Galveston and Pearland agreements use the county’s contracted taxi company for those trips.

The county contracts behind RIDES

Harris County Purchasing picks RIDES companies by request for proposals, an evaluation committee scores them, and Commissioners Court approves the awards. As of October 2026, three county contracts buy rides through the Office of Transit Services:

Contract	What it buys	Held by	Runs through
Job 210385	Supplemental rides for RIDES, the Medical Transportation Program, and ADA paratransit	zTrip and A New Haven Transportation	August 22, 2027, last renewal
Job 240240	Non-metered shared rides for RIDES and non-emergency medical programs	Rubicund, Anchoring Hopes, and Rids Brother	August 22, 2027, last renewal
Job 220278	Fixed route, paratransit, on-demand, and non-emergency medical transit service	zTrip and ECHO AFC Transportation	October 15, 2027, one renewal left

Job 210385 was advertised in November 2021 and drew five proposals by December 6, 2021. In August 2022 the court awarded contracts to five companies for a first year with four one-year renewals. By January 2024, Galveston Yellowcab and Pasadena Taxi had assigned their contracts to zTrip, and the county had ended Quick Safe Transportation’s contract effective January 5, 2024. The RIDES reservation page now lists zTrip as its one taxi provider. On September 17, 2026, the court ratified the fourth and final renewal for zTrip and A New Haven Transportation through August 22, 2027, at $2,550,000 for the two together.

Job 240240 covers the non-metered shared ride side. It drew five proposals by October 7, 2024, and in February 2025 the court picked three companies for a first term with two one-year renewals. Its second and last renewal, also ratified on September 17, 2026, ends August 22, 2027 at $2,550,000.

Job 220278 is separate from RIDES: it buys the department’s own fixed route, paratransit, on-demand, and non-emergency medical transit service. Its July 2026 renewal, option 2 of 3, runs from October 16, 2026 to October 15, 2027 at a cost of $1,400,000 for zTrip and $4,400,000 for ECHO AFC Transportation.

What RIDES pays for a trip

The county, not the company, sets the price of a shared ride, by distance from pickup to drop-off. The rate chart in effect in October 2026:

Miles	Trip price	Rider pays	Subsidy pays
0 to 3	$6	$2.40	$3.60
4 to 6	$12	$4.80	$7.20
7 to 9	$18	$7.20	$10.80
10 to 12	$24	$9.60	$14.40
13 to 15	$30	$12.00	$18.00
16 to 19	$36	$14.40	$21.60
20 or more, in Harris County	$42	$16.80	$25.20

A return trip is a second one-way fare. Taxi trips are paid by the meter. In the county’s 2026 agreement with Gulf Coast Transit District, the RIDES card covers at most $48 of a one-way taxi trip, and the rider pays the driver anything above that. For comparison with your own costs, a National Aging and Disability Transportation Center profile of RIDES reported 84,320 one-way trips in 2019, at an operating cost of $20.66 per shared ride and $30.93 per taxi trip. The same profile says the county sets standard prices, so it picks companies on their ability to provide the service.

How trips are booked, recorded, and paid

Riders book directly with the company they choose. The rider calls, says they are a RIDES customer, gives the addresses and appointment time, and asks for a wheelchair van, a companion seat, or room for a service animal. RIDES tells riders its lifts carry up to 660 pounds, chair and rider together, and chairs up to 48 inches long and 30 inches wide, so match your lift to that. Drivers may help with packages under 20 pounds.

The RIDES card is the trip record. The driver scans its QR code when the rider boards, which shows whether the card holds enough for the fare, and again at drop-off, which deducts the fare. Shared ride companies take only the card, while taxis may take the card plus cash. The center’s profile adds that the cards log GPS trip data, start and end points, miles, and cost, which feed the billing reports.

The rules your dispatchers work to:

• Pickup window. A rider who does not board within 5 minutes of a van arriving inside the window is a no-show.
• Late cancellations. A cancellation after 5 p.m. the day before and up to two hours ahead is a late cancellation, and cancellations closer than two hours count as no-shows.
• Changes. Riders change shared ride times at least 4 hours ahead, and a same-day change may not fit if the van is full.

How to compete for the next RIDES contract

Both RIDES contracts have used every renewal the court approved when it awarded them. To be ready when the county asks for proposals again:

1. Register as a county supplier. The Purchasing Department posts bids and proposals on its online portal, and registration is free. Registered suppliers get email notice of new projects that match the commodity codes they pick, so choose the transportation service codes.
2. Clear your county taxes. In 2022, a taxi company that owed Harris County taxes when proposals arrived needed a court waiver to win its contract.
3. Plan for federal paperwork. RIDES runs on Federal Transit Administration money, and the center’s profile found that small shared ride companies could drive the trips but struggled with federal program paperwork and reporting.
4. Watch Commissioners Court. The court consented to the last two RIDES requests for proposals on November 9, 2021 and September 19, 2024, and proposals came in within weeks, on December 6, 2021 and October 7, 2024. Other departments buy rides too: on October 16, 2025 the court consented to a request for proposals for rideshare and non-emergency medical transportation for Harris County Public Health (Job 250209).

See government NEMT contracts for how county proposals are scored and won.

Medicaid rides in Harris County

Medicaid rides do not run through RIDES. As of September 2026, the five STAR plans in the Harris service area, Community Health Choice, Molina, Texas Children’s, UnitedHealthcare, and Wellpoint, send rides through MTM Health or SafeRide Health; the Texas guide covers Medicaid enrollment and the Texas Children’s Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan pages cover two of those plans.