The comparison, with every figure sourced
| Product | What it is | Published figure | Firm or teaser |
|---|---|---|---|
| EGT Procedure Ride | Licensed car, ambulatory, escort included, round trip | $120 / $150 / $175 / $250 flat by zone | Firm, published, all-in |
| Uber / Lyft (UberX) | Curb to curb, no escort, no assistance | Uber's own San Diego average: “$25” per UberX trip | Average, excludes surge; not accepted by many units |
| San Diego ambulatory NEMT sedan | Ambulatory, one way | $60 base + $3.50/mile; round trip $100 base; wait time $60/hr; before 6am/after 5pm +$30; North/East County +$15; extra passenger $15 | Firm, but it is a meter with add-ons |
| Wheelchair van (UC San Diego Health discharge) | For patients who must ride in a wheelchair | “$80 plus $5 per mile” | Firm — different product class |
| Gurney transport (UC San Diego Health) | Non-emergency, on a gurney | “$145 plus $7 per mile” | Firm — different product class |
| BLS non-emergency ambulance | Licensed EMS crew | City of San Diego fee schedule: $1,162.04 + $42.91/mile | Firm billed charge — a completely different product |
| RideFACT (San Diego County) | Subsidized, 60+ or disabled, book 3–7 days ahead | $5.00 under 10 miles | Firm, eligibility-gated |
| MTS Access paratransit | ADA-certified riders only | $10 one way | Firm, eligibility-gated |
Sources: UC San Diego Health transportation · City of San Diego EMS transport fees · Happy2Help Transportation rate card · Uber Health San Diego · RideFACT · MTS Access.
An honest note on that ambulance line: a $1,162 non-emergency BLS ambulance charge is not a competitor to a car service and we are not pretending it is. It buys a licensed EMS crew. We include it because the gap between it and an $80 wheelchair van is where most post-procedure patients actually sit — needing neither.
Nobody publishes a price, and that is the finding
We checked eight San Diego medical-transport operators. Seven of them publish no rates at all — Prestige, Premium, Valley, Marquee and others all route you to a phone call for a quote. One competitor’s own explainer on what NEMT costs concludes: “The best course of action is to contact your non emergency medical transportation service of choice and ask for a quote.”
That is the state of the market. You are recovering from sedation and being asked to price-discover by telephone. The one operator that does publish charges a base plus a per-mile meter plus wait time plus an off-hours surcharge plus a per-extra-passenger fee — which is a defensible model, but it is not a number you can know in advance.
Our position: a published flat rate, or it is not really a price.
What insurance covers — the short version is nothing
Original Medicare: Part B covers ambulance only, and only when “traveling in any other vehicle could endanger your health,” with 20% coinsurance after the deductible (medicare.gov). An ambulatory patient after a colonoscopy does not meet that test.
Medi-Cal: real benefits exist — NEMT (“ambulance, wheelchair van, or litter van”) and NMT (“private or public transportation to and from covered Medi-Cal services”) — but they are for Medi-Cal members, and NEMT “must be prescribed by a health care provider” (DHCS). If you are on Medi-Cal, use this instead of us.
Commercial insurance: routine non-emergency transport is a standard exclusion. Kaiser Permanente’s own policy states non-emergency transport is not indicated for “Dialysis or oncology treatments for members who do not need medical care or monitoring during transportation” or “Transportation from or to the physician’s office for routine services” (source).
And Uber Health is not a consumer product. It is sold to health systems and NEMT brokers, and its 2026 self-booking release still only covers organization-funded trips (Uber newsroom).
The number to weigh it against: what a cancelled procedure costs
Transportation is a documented reason people miss care. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that “In 2022, 5.7% of adults lacked reliable transportation for daily living in the past 12 months” (NCHS Data Brief No. 490). An American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy white paper reports a safety-net study in which “nearly 1 in 4 participants listed transportation as an important barrier to completing a colonoscopy” (Kwok et al., Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2023). The VA estimates that “between ten (10%) and twenty (20%) percent of Veterans report they do not have an adult to accompany them after a procedure requiring sedation” (VHA, 2025).
Peer-reviewed work puts the average cost of a missed appointment at $196 per patient in a large VA system (Kheirkhah et al., BMC Health Services Research, 2016), and operating-room time at roughly $36 to $37 per minute across 302 California hospitals (Childers & Maggard-Gibbons, JAMA Surgery, 2018).
Set that against a $150 round trip. The comparison that matters is not our rate against a $25 rideshare — it is our rate against two days of bowel prep, a lost slot, and a rescheduled procedure six weeks out.
Our rate
| Where the facility is | Round trip BMW i7 · 2 seats | Rivian R1S up to 4 | Escalade IQ-L up to 5 | One way |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 — Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, Kearny Mesa, Serra Mesa, Mission Valley, Downtown, Point Loma, National City | $120 | $160 | $200 | $65 |
| Zone 2 — La Jolla, UTC, Torrey Pines, Sorrento Valley, Carmel Valley, La Mesa, El Cajon, Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar | $150 | $190 | $230 | $80 |
| Zone 3 — Encinitas, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe | $175 | $215 | $255 | $95 |
| Zone 4 — Escondido, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos | $250 | $290 | $330 | $115 |
The rate is per vehicle, not per person — your escort rides at no additional charge. The round trip is two scheduled legs: we take you in, and we come back for you when the unit calls. There is no hourly meter and no waiting charge.
The rate includes gratuity, tolls and waiting time. There is no tip line, no surge, no early-morning surcharge, no extra-passenger fee and no percentage service charge. The figure you are quoted before the procedure is the figure you pay after it.
What we are, and what we are not — read this before you book
We are a licensed passenger carrier, not a medical transport service. Elite Green Transportation holds California CPUC charter-party carrier permit TCP #0046494-A. We carry ambulatory passengers — people who can walk to the car and sit in an ordinary seat.
We cannot be your “responsible adult.” Federal law governing ambulatory surgery centers (42 CFR §416.52) requires the facility to “ensure all patients are discharged in the company of a responsible adult, except those patients exempted by the attending physician.” A paid driver does not satisfy that requirement, and we will never tell you otherwise. Euclid Endoscopy Center in San Diego states the rule about as plainly as it can be stated: a patient must be accompanied by a responsible adult “(not the taxi driver)” (source).
So here is the actual product: we drive you and the person taking care of you. Your escort still has to be there — but they no longer have to drive at 5 a.m., find parking at a medical campus, sit in a waiting room for three hours, and then drive home while keeping an eye on someone who is still coming out of sedation. That is the job we take off them.
What we do not do: we do not provide gurney or stretcher transport, we do not transport passengers who cannot transfer out of a wheelchair unaided, and we provide no medical care, monitoring or assistance of any kind en route. Those are separate, separately-licensed services — in California, ambulance, litter van and wheelchair van are the regulated categories (22 CCR §51323). If that is what you need, we will tell you so and we will not take the booking.
We do not bill insurance. This is a private-pay service. See the cost page for what is and is not covered.
Frequently asked
Why is this more expensive than an Uber?
Because it is a different thing. An UberX is one seat, curb to curb, no escort accommodation, no named driver, no company behind it, and several San Diego facilities will not discharge you into one. Our rate covers the vehicle, both legs, your escort, and the time we spend not charging you while you are inside.
Is there anything cheaper that is legitimate?
Yes, and we would rather you used it if you qualify. Medi-Cal members get NEMT or NMT at no cost. RideFACT is $5 under 10 miles for riders 60+ or with a disability. MTS Access is $10 one way for ADA-certified riders. All three require eligibility and advance booking.
Do you publish these rates anywhere machine-readable?
Yes. Our full rate structure is published in our llms.txt so AI assistants can quote it accurately rather than guessing.
Can my driver be my responsible adult?
No. 42 CFR 416.52 requires the facility to discharge you in the company of a responsible adult, and a paid driver does not satisfy that. We drive you and your escort; we never claim to be the escort.
Does my escort cost extra?
No. The rate is per vehicle. Your escort rides free, both ways.
Do you charge for waiting?
No. Two scheduled legs, no hourly meter.
What if I need a wheelchair or gurney?
Then we are the wrong service and we will say so. Those are separately licensed categories in California.
Book the ride — tell us the facility and the time
We call you back to confirm. Prefer to skip the form? Call (858) 522-0264 or text us — an owner answers.