Getting a parent to their appointments.When a parent stops driving, the appointments do not stop. Two questions decide what to do about it, and most people try to answer the second one first. This works through both, then sets out the five ways families in the Twin Cities actually solve it and what each one costs.
- Two questionsone trip or a pattern, and do they need somebody with them
- Five optionslaid out cheapest first — two of them cost nothing
- You ride freeup to 3 people on the same booking, no charge
The two questions, before the options.
Nearly every wrong answer here comes from solving one appointment when the real problem was a pattern, or from arranging a lift when what was needed was a person.
Is this one trip, or a pattern?
A single specialist visit is a favour you can call in. A weekly infusion, a course of physical therapy or three dialysis mornings is a logistics problem, and the honest thing to notice early is that goodwill does not survive it — the neighbour who happily drives once will not drive forty times, and neither will you without something breaking.
If it repeats, arrange it as a repeating thing from the start. A standing slot is booked once and held, with the same driver each time, and it removes a weekly negotiation from a family that has enough of them.
What actually changed?
Worth being specific with yourself, because it decides which vehicle. Have they stopped driving but still walk fine? Can they get into a car but not out of it unaided? Are they in a chair on the bad days and on their feet on the good ones? That last one is very common and it is not a problem — tell us which kind of day it is when you book and the right van comes.
Do they need somebody with them, or a way to get there?
These are different needs and they are constantly confused. If your mother cannot take in what the cardiologist says, or will not ask the question she meant to ask, then the requirement is a person in the room — and no transport arrangement solves that. Go yourself, or send somebody who can.
If she is entirely capable in the appointment and the problem is the twelve miles either side of it, then it is a transport problem and any of the options below solve it.
And often it is both, which is the case people assume is expensive and is not: up to 3 people ride along at no extra charge here, so you can be in the room without also being the driver, on the same one fare.
The five ways families solve it.
Cheapest first, which puts us fourth. Work down the list rather than across it — the first two are free and are the ones most people give up on too early.
| The option | What it costs | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| You take them yourself | What it costsFree | What to knowThe default, and worth protecting for the appointments that matter most — being in the room when a specialist explains something is not a thing a driver can do for you. It stops working when the appointments become weekly, when they land mid-morning on a workday, or when getting your parent in and out of a car is the actual difficulty. |
| A neighbour, a friend, a church volunteer | What it costsFree | What to knowUnderused, and often available for exactly the mid-morning weekday slot that is hardest for you. Ask directly rather than in general — people say yes to “Tuesday at ten” far more often than to “let me know if you can ever help”. It is not the answer if your parent needs help transferring, or on a day that cannot be rearranged. |
| Metro Mobility or county-arranged rides | What it costsA few dollars | What to knowShared, subsidised public paratransit, and far cheaper than anything private. If your parent has Medical Assistance, transportation is already covered through their county or health plan at no cost — check that before paying anyone. The trade is time: a window rather than an appointment, and no waiting during the visit. Where it fits, and where it does not. |
| A private medical ride | What it costs$50+ | What to knowWhat we do: a booked time, a driver who walks them from their door to the desk and back, and a chair secured if they use one. You can ride along at no charge. It costs real money — a 12-mile run is $80 walking or $111 in the chair — and it is the wrong choice if one of the first three rows will do the job. |
| A rideshare | What it costsVaries | What to knowFine for a mobile parent going somewhere simple. Not fine for most of the reason you are reading this: no ramp, nothing on the floor to secure a chair to, the driver stays behind the wheel, and nobody walks anybody anywhere. It also cannot be booked reliably for a specific minute several days out. |
Booking a ride you are not going to be on.
Most of our bookings are made by somebody other than the rider — a wife for a husband, an adult child for a parent, a case manager for a client. It is the normal case here, not an exception to explain.
What we need from you
- The pickup address, and the clinic or building at the other end — the building, not just the street.
- The date and the appointment time.
- Whether they use a wheelchair, and whether it is their own.
- Whether the driver should wait, or come back for them later.
- A number to reach you on, if you will not be there.
That is the whole list. Nothing about coverage, nothing about weight, no medical history — anything operational that comes up belongs in a conversation rather than on a form.
What happens if you are at work
You will not be wondering whether the van came. The driver confirms the pickup and the drop-off, and if you have given us your number rather than only your parent’s, that confirmation comes to you — which is the point of asking for it.
Door through door, both ends: they are walked from their own door to the desk and stayed with until they are checked in, then met and walked back inside at the other end. Not to the curb. For a parent who is unsteady, that walk is most of what you are actually buying.
Hours are 7am–7pm daily, earlier by arrangement, and a person answers the phone rather than a menu — so if something changes at eleven in the morning, there is somebody to change it with.
What the fourth row costs.
Published, so you can compare it against your own morning off work before you decide.
- $80a 12-mile run for a parent who walks — $50 base plus $2.50 a mile
- $111the same run in the ramp van — $75 plus $3 a mile
- $100an hour, flat, if the driver should wait through the appointment rather than come back
You come along at no extra charge — up to 3 people on the same booking and the same fare. Miles are counted by road from their address to the clinic, there is no zone map, and cancelling is free until an hour before pickup, then 10% of the fare. Appointments get moved; tell us as soon as the clinic tells you.
If the appointments repeat, price it as a week rather than a trip — what a standing run actually costs works one through. And if there is a procedure with sedation coming, the ride home is its own problem and worth reading before the prep day.
Somebody has already done this.
The shortest review we have, and it is the one that says the most about who books these rides.
Rated 5 out of 5
TrueStar took my grandma to an appointment.
Asked by the person booking.
How to book for somebody else, what the driver does at the door, and how you find out they arrived. Open a row for the rest — none of it changes when you dial.
15 answers
Can I book a ride for someone else?Yes, and most people do.
Have the pickup address, the appointment time, and whether they use a chair, and one call covers it.
Can I book this for my mother?Yes, and most people do.
Have her pickup address, the appointment time and place, and whether she walks or uses a chair that day. One call covers it, and we confirm the fare before anything is held. She does not need to be on the phone.
How do I get a parent to appointments when I work?Book it once. Hold it.
A standing slot is the answer families land on: the same days, the same time, the same driver, booked one time and held until you change it. You do not take the morning off, and she is walked from her own door to the desk and back again.
Standing routesHow will I know the driver is here?He comes to the door.
You are not watching a window or a map for a van that may or may not be yours. The driver parks, comes to your door, and walks out with you.
Does the driver come to the door?Door through door.
The driver walks you from your door to the desk and stays until you are checked in. Coming home, the same in reverse.
Does the driver come inside?Door through door.
From your own door to the desk, and the driver stays until you are checked in. Coming home, the same in reverse — never a drop at the curb.
Who can ride along?Up to 3, free.
A spouse, a daughter, an aide — up to 3 additional riders travel at no extra charge, in the same van, on the same booking.
Some days I need the chair.Book whichever fits.
The same vans run both. A wheelchair day is the $75 base instead of $50, and $3 a mile instead of $2.50 — say which when you book and the right setup arrives.
How the wheelchair ride worksCan I bring my walker?Yes, always.
Walkers, rollators and canes stow free, every ride. Tell us when you book so the driver has the space clear.
Do I need my own wheelchair?Yours, or ours.
Power or manual, your chair is secured before the van moves. If you do not have one, we carry one.
Wheelchair rides, door to doorHow do I book a ride?One call. Two minutes.
You reach a person, not a queue. Tell them where you are going and when, the fare is quoted off the published card, and the slot is held before you hang up.
How far ahead should I book?Sooner holds the slot.
Same-day works when the schedule allows, and we will tell you that on the phone — not after you have booked.
Ask for a rideCan you come today?Sometimes. Call and ask.
Same-day rides are taken when the schedule has room, and you get a straight yes or no on the call rather than a booking that quietly fails. Mornings fill first.
Do I have to book every week?No. Once.
A standing slot is booked one time and held until you change it. No weekly phone call, no re-quoting, no losing the time you count on.
Standing routesDo you take Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance?The printed rates are private pay.
You or your family pay us directly, at the rates published on this page, and no broker schedules the van. If a plan or a county program is involved in your rides, say so on the call — we will tell you where you stand rather than let you guess at it from a website.
What Medicare and Medicaid pay toward a rideWhile you are working it out.
The next questions people ask after this one — same plain answers, same published figures.
Tell us about the appointment. We will tell you what it takes.
A person answers, quotes the fare off the card printed above, and holds the time before you hang up. If a neighbour could do it for nothing, we will say so — this is not a service anybody should be talked into.
Have these ready
- The pickup address, and the clinic or building you are going to.
- The date and the appointment time.
- Wheelchair or ambulatory, and whether the chair is yours.
- Whether the driver should wait, or come back for you later.