About this episode
Ross Peterson left a three year run at ModivCare to start RideToo in Denver, incorporating on February 19, 2025 and performing his first ride on June 2 in a single 2019 Ford Transit he bought from a Portland operator who was winding down. He is prototyping a franchise model built on W2 drivers rather than the 1099 contractors behind Uber and Lyft, and he intends to work every role himself before stepping up. Colorado's moratorium on new Medicaid provider enrollments keeps him on three broker contracts and private pay while he bootstraps toward bank fleet loans.
Key takeaways
- RideToo runs one 2019 Ford Transit with two wheelchair positions and fold down seats, carrying four ambulatory and one wheelchair passenger, or two and two.
- Peterson rules out the Uber and Lyft 1099 model for wheelchair work. His scaling path is a franchise with W2 drivers baked in, replicated as a business in a box.
- Training drivers to the top standard across Medicaid, veterans, vocational rehab and senior programs lets one territory accept every funding source, raising ride density and vehicle productivity.
- Colorado has frozen new Medicaid provider enrollments, so RideToo is live on three signed broker contracts plus private pay work rather than concentrating on a single payer.
- Insurance is the largest monthly line item on RideToo's profit and loss statement. Two decades in the industry and detailed procedures did not move the underwriter off startup pricing.
Chapters
- 0:31 Ross Peterson leaves ModivCare and starts RideToo in Denver
- 1:22 Inside the 2019 Ford Transit bought from a retiring Portland operator
- 4:42 Two decades from Utah Transit Authority paratransit to Medicaid NEMT
- 7:42 Three years at ModivCare and why quality needs scale
- 9:32 The national plan: a franchise model built on W2 drivers
- 12:16 Incorporated February 19, first ride June 2
- 13:02 Building blocks: HR, data plumbing and vehicle procurement
- 15:39 The insurance problem and the search for alternatives
- 20:18 Broker work, private pay, and Colorado's Medicaid moratorium
- 22:15 Defining the prototype: territory, fleet size and staffing ratios
- 26:50 The pitfall of one broker, and treating drivers as disposable
- 30:04 The biggest surprise: what insurance actually costs
