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Guaranteed Ride Home Registration Information for Individuals

(Click here for a PDF Brochure)

Individuals who use some alternative mode of transportation to get to and from work, other than driving alone, such as carpooling, riding a non-CDTA bus, walking or bicycling, three or more times per week (on average) are eligible for CDTC's guaranteed ride home (GRH) program. Persons who are eligible for GRH privileges under CDTA's Swiper pass program are not eligible for reimbursement under CDTC's GRH program.

How Does The Guaranteed Ride Home Program Work?

A Guaranteed Ride Home membership card will be issued once a GRH registration form (PDF version) is completed. This form asks for your name, home address and usual means of transportation to work. It also requests that you indicate the bus that you take to work, or identify the people that your carpool with, including their addresses. Eligibility will commence five working days from the date of registration.

When a GRH is needed, you must contact ACCESS Transit at 459-TRIP (8747) to schedule the trip. ACCESS Transit is a subsidiary of CDTA and brokers Medicaid transportation trips for the counties of Rensselaer and Schenectady. ACCESS Transit accepts calls from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. ACCESS Transit is closed on major holidays. The call-taker at ACCESS Transit will ask for your name, address and GRH membership identification number to verify your eligibility for a GRH. If the information you provide on the phone matches the information contained in the GRH database, ACCESS Transit will schedule the taxi ride. Guaranteed Rides must originate at your work location. Rides to your home address or the park-and-ride lot where you parked in the morning will be approved under the GRH program. Intermediary stops to daycare centers, schools or medical facilities will also be allowed.

You will be asked to complete a GRH usage report after each GRH is taken. Persons failing to complete this report will be ineligible for additional guaranteed rides home.

If you need to arrange for a GRH after hours, you can order your own taxi, pay for the trip out of pocket and submit the request for reimbursement form to CDTC. You will be reimbursed for the taxi ride for up to $60.00 with an annual cap of $150.00.

For further information about the Guaranteed Ride Home Program, call (518) 458-2164, mail a letter of interest to CDTC, Guaranteed Ride Home Program, One Park Place Main Floor, Albany, New York 12205, fax your request to Guaranteed Ride Home Program (518) 459-2155 or email CDTC at questions@commuter-register.org.