Rideshare FAQs

Rideshare is a program in which individuals will drive their own vehicle at their convenience to transport riders. Roundtrip is partnered with two of the biggest rideshare companies in the United States: Lyft and Uber. Lyft is our Preferred Partner but that we do utilize Uber in certain situations as well.

Rideshare has no restrictions on advanced notice for booking, meaning that you may book rideshare rides five minutes from the requested ride time or even weeks/months in advance! Rideshare is an on-demand service, meaning that even if a ride is booked in advance, we will not search the rideshare network for driver availability until 5-20 minutes before the ride is scheduled to be picked up (depending on your organization's settings).

Roundtrip is partnered with two of the biggest rideshare companies in the United States: Lyft and Uber. This ensures the best network coverage for areas that utilize rideshare. Lyft is our Preferred Partner but that we do utilize Uber in certain situations as well.

Lyft Health and Uber Health have different dashboards to order rides than the standard apps, and are able to have healthcare professionals order rides on the patient’s behalf. However, once the ride is booked, the drivers that pick up the ride requests are the same drivers no matter which app or dashboard the ride was requested from. Yes, Lyft Health and Uber Health have a medically trained driver option, but this is equivalent to Roundtrip’s Medical Sedan vehicle type option.

The drivers for both companies are screened appropriately to transport any rider and ensure safety - there is no difference in driver and rider safety protocols between the regular apps and Health accounts. Both ensure the highest level of safety and standards.

Roundtrip strives for all riders to have a safe, comfortable ride. For rideshare level transports, there are safety measures in place by Roundtrip as well as our rideshare partners to meet this expectation:

Our rideshare partners, Lyft and Uber, have their own protocols to ensure rider safety. Please see the links below to view each partner’s safety protocols:

Rideshare is a great, flexible option for many of our riders. Riders who would be candidates for rideshare must be:

Rideshare is a program in which individuals will drive their own vehicle at their convenience to transport riders. Riders can expect for a regular personal vehicle to be picking them up. Some rideshare drivers may also have Lyft or Uber emblems on their vehicle to help riders easily identify them.

For riders with cell phones, they will receive a text or automated voice call notification when the rideshare driver is assigned which includes the driver's name, vehicle description, and ETA. An additional notification will be sent to the rider once the driver has arrived to the pick-up location.

Rideshare has no restrictions on advanced notice for booking, meaning that you may book rideshare rides five minutes from the requested ride time or even weeks/months in advance! Rideshare is an on-demand service, meaning that even if a ride is booked in advance, we will not search the rideshare network for driver availability until 5-20 minutes before the ride is scheduled to be picked up (depending on your organization's settings).

When booking a rideshare ride, you can expect the driver to arrive at the time of the scheduled pick-up. If you anticipate that the rider may take a few extra minutes to get to the pick-up location, we recommend building in some buffer time when selecting a pick-up time.

Unlike other levels of transportation, rideshare is much more strict about driver wait times. As a general rule of thumb, rideshare drivers will wait for a rider for up to 5 minutes before canceling the ride. If your rider will take longer than 5 minutes to gather their belongings and arrive at the pick-up location, rideshare may not be the most ideal option. A taxi or medical sedan should be booked instead (if offered by your organization) to allow the rider enough time to gather their belongings and make it to the scheduled pick-up location on time.

We understand that there are situations where riders may need to be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other caregiver. Rideshare allows riders to bring other passengers to assist them as needed. Regular sized rideshare vehicles can fit up to 4 passengers while XL rideshare vehicles may fit up to 6 passengers.

Generally, if a rider is comfortable riding in a regular personal size vehicle, a normal rideshare should be able to accommodate the rider. For a normal rideshare ride, Roundtrip nor our rideshare partners can control what type of vehicle is assigned (sedan, SUV, etc.). This is because rideshare is an on-demand service which will assign the best, closest driver to the pick-up location.

For bariatric patients who are not comfortable in a regular personal size vehicle, you can opt to order an XL rideshare, which are larger vehicles that have 6 seats. Due to their size, XL Rideshares may also have higher floor clearance, requiring riders to have the ability to lift themselves into the vehicle.

Rideshare is an option for minor riders who are ambulatory and are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Minor riders who are traveling without a parent or guardian cannot be transported via rideshare. Instead, unaccompanied minors should utilize a taxi or medical sedan if they are ambulatory.

Rideshare drivers are not required to assist riders in/out of their vehicle. If you are booking a ride for a rider that needs additional assistance, we recommend that you book a higher level vehicle such as a taxi or medical sedan (if offered by your organization).

Rideshare drivers are not required to assist riders with loading or unloading personal belongings. If you are booking a ride for a rider that needs additional assistance, we recommend that you book a higher level vehicle such as a taxi or medical sedan (if offered by your organization).

Per ADA requirements, riders are allowed to bring service dogs/animals with them for their rideshare rides. Drivers are required by law and by Lyft/Uber's individual policies to allow service animals during transport. Drivers should not ask for proof or registration for service animals. If a driver refuses to transport a service animal, please escalate to Roundtrip’s Support Team at rideqa@roundtriphealth.com for further assistance.

Riders are not obligated to tip rideshare drivers. While they can choose to do so, it is entirely optional. Due to Roundtrip's technical configurations with our rideshare partners, tipping is not available in the portal. Therefore, no tipping costs are incurred or passed on to your organization. Drivers receive compensation from our rideshare partners through the regular ride costs.

There is no set limit on how far rideshare drivers will travel for a particular ride. We often facilitate rideshare transports that will travel over 100 miles and across state lines.

Based on Lyft/Uber’s policies, their drivers should go to the address provided within their application. While drivers are not supposed to change the end destination, we have seen instances where they will. In rare circumstances, a rider may ask for a different drop-off address once in the vehicle and the driver may oblige. If this is discovered, Roundtrip will report the incident to the respective rideshare partner for further investigation. Lyft and Uber also have logic in place to proactively flag rides that appear to exceed a reasonable mileage for the requested trip locations.

Cancellations can occur on the Care Coordinator, Rider, or Driver's end. If a driver releases an assigned trip prior to arriving at the designated pick-up location, a new vehicle will be automatically dispatched for the rider and users will receive a notification that a new driver will be coming. If a driver cancels the ride entirely, a notification will be sent to the rider and care coordinator to advise of the cancellation. In these cases, the rider may text or call Roundtrip to redispatch the ride. Care Coordinators may also redispatch the ride from within the portal. Care Coordinators and Riders may cancel scheduled rideshare rides at any time before the ride is launched and a driver is assigned.

In some cases, cancellation fees can be assessed by Lyft/Uber. These fees can vary depending on a few factors: which rideshare partner dispatched the ride, the distance the driver traveled, and wait time if applicable. The time between the driver being dispatched and the scheduled pick-up time may vary; please be mindful of cancellations approaching the scheduled pick-up time.

Cancellation fees can be applied in the following situations:

Lyft and Uber also have differing criteria for when a cancellation fee is applied for rider no-shows. Please see below for the criteria that needs to be met: