Shared rides, inside the rules

Two neighbours going to the same hospital on the same morning could share a car and each pay less. Simple enough. Legally, it needed care: a booked hire service must not turn into a scheduled route service, which is a different kind of service under the law.

What we did

On 23 August 2026 we researched the Act and the Regulation, and how shared rides already work on the big apps, and decided how shared rides could work within the law as we read it. The same day we wrote to TMR with three questions, asking for written confirmation.

On 25 August we finished building shared rides, on rules the system never relaxes:

• every rider is a separate booked hire, with their own booking, their own written quote and their own record;
• each rider’s quote is a ceiling. Sharing can only make a fare go down, never up;
• both sides agree: the first rider approves a neighbour joining, and then the driver confirms;
• there is no timetable. The public list shows only real bookings people have already made, never a scheduled run;
• the public list shows a suburb, a 30-minute window, a direction and the seats free: never a name, an address or an exact time.

As shared rides were finished, the code went through one of our biggest review rounds, which confirmed and fixed 26 problems.

Where it stands

As far as our research goes, the law does not prohibit shared rides run this way. That is our reading, not legal advice, and not TMR’s endorsement. If you are thinking of offering shared rides, talk to TMR and get your own advice first.

For other operators, shared rides will be switched off until the operator has their own advice in writing.