Skip to main content
alert
Service Change Ongoing
All MBTA services are running on a reduced schedule until further notice in the interest of the health and safety of our riders and employees. All riders must use a face covering when on the MBTA. Full details: MBTA.com/coronavirus
HomeAccessibility on the MBTAThe RIDEScheduling and Changing Trips

Scheduling and Changing Trips

More from The RIDE

Learn more about The RIDE, MBTA’s door-to-door, shared-ride paratransit service.

Reservations for The RIDE can be made 7 days a week, 8:30 AM – 5 PM, including holidays. You can schedule trips 1 – 7 days in advance. Same-day requests will not be accommodated.

Let the reservationist know if you will be traveling with anyone else, including a PCA, guest, child, or service animal.

Reservations

To make reservations, contact The RIDE Access Center (TRAC):

Phone

844-427-7433 (Voice, toll-free)
857-206-6569 (TTY, toll-free)

Online

Book online

Read our policies for information on:

  • Cancellations
  • No-shows
  • Traveling with guests
  • RIDE etiquette

Trip Types

  • Schedule an arrival-time trip if you need to be at a destination before a specific time (for example, a 9 AM doctor’s appointment).
  • Schedule a departure-time trip if you need to leave a location after a specific time (for example, leaving work at 5 PM).

Tips

  • For arrival-time trips, you may arrive at your destination up to 30 minutes before your scheduled time. Please ensure that you can wait safely at a location if you are early.
  • Arrival-time trips do not guarantee a specific pick-up time. We will confirm your pickup time during callbacks, the night before your trip. As this is a shared-ride service that picks up and drops of multiple passengers along its route, your pick-up time may be earlier than you expect.
  • Requested arrival and departure times must be at least 45 minutes apart.

Trips Outside of The RIDE Core Area (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline)

If you’re going into or coming from The RIDE core area, you won’t need to transfer. If you’re traveling from one service provider’s area to another, you will need to change vehicles at a designated transfer stop.

After 5 PM on the day before your trip, you'll get a callback confirmation with your travel details.

Changing Your Trip

You can change your trip until 5 PM the day before.

If during your call-back the night before a trip, you’re given a pick-up time that doesn’t work for you, you can request to negotiate a different time.

Keep in mind, some changes are not considered negotiations, which means you will pay a premium fare. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Requesting a pick-up time change that’s more than 30 minutes earlier or later than the original time
  • Requesting a change less than an hour before your trip
  • Changing your pick-up or drop-off location
  • Rescheduling a missed trip

Not all changes can be accommodated, so call TRAC as soon as possible if you’d like to change something.

Canceling Your Trip

You can cancel your trip online or by phone up to 5 PM the day before without a penalty. Please read the Late Cancellation/No-show Policy for more information.

Coming Soon: Routematch

We're implementing a new software system called Routematch to improve reservations, scheduling, and dispatch operations for The RIDE.

Learn more about The RIDE's software transition

With Routematch, you will receive 3 calls confirming the time you can expect for your ride:

  • The night before your scheduled trip, you will receive a call providing a 20-minute pickup window for your driver’s arrival.
  • An hour before your scheduled pickup, you will receive a call giving a specific time estimate for your driver’s arrival.
  • When your driver is about to arrive, you will receive a call asking you to be ready at the door.

If you cancel your trip less than an hour before your trip, it will be considered a late cancellation.

If you no longer need the vehicle, please cancel your trip so we can reroute it to another customer.

Subscription Service

If you travel to and from the same place 2 or more days a week, you may be able to have your trips automatically scheduled (except on holidays). Ask TRAC for more information.

If your eligibility status for The RIDE changes or you don’t have any funds in your account, your subscription service may be interrupted. If this happens, contact TRAC as soon as possible to confirm your automatically scheduled trips.

No-shows

If you are not at the pick-up location within 5 minutes of the driver’s arrival and they are unable to contact you it is a no-show violation. Your vehicle arrival time will be announced during the third of 3 notification calls you’ll receive through Routematch.

If you are delayed, call TRAC as soon as possible to request a new pickup time. This will trigger the premium non-ADA fare. TRAC will do its best to incorporate your modified trip request into the day’s schedule.