Everything the STAR system does
One connected system runs the whole operation — the public website, the dispatch office, every driver’s phone, and the paperwork that gets you paid. Here’s the tour, in plain English.
The website riders actually use
Anyone can book a ride from a phone or computer — no phone tag required.
Online ride booking
Riders, family members, or caseworkers book a ride in about a minute. Round trips are handled in the same booking — the return leg is created automatically.
Instant fare quote
Type in a pickup and drop-off and the price appears before booking. Private-pay riders know the cost up front — no surprises at the curb.
Looks great on any device
The site is fast, secure, and built for phones first, with the STAR name, star, and colors front and center.
Dispatch that sees everything
The whole operation on one screen — who is where, what is next, and what needs attention.
One board for the whole day
Every trip for the day in one place, color-coded by status. Assigning a driver is one click, and the driver’s phone knows about it seconds later.
Live driver map
See exactly where every driver is right now, the road route to their next stop with an arrival estimate, or their full day’s trail — turn by turn.
Messages that speak out loud
Type a note to a driver and their phone reads it aloud through the vehicle’s speakers. New assignments and schedule changes announce themselves the same way — no reading while driving.
Running-late radar
Five minutes past a pickup time, the system flags it; at ten, it escalates. A driver stuck in traffic is noted automatically; a stopped driver must pick a reason — so dispatch always knows why, without a single phone call.
Add staff in one click
Create a dispatcher or driver and their secure login is made automatically, with a one-time password they change on first sign-in.
Medicaid billing protection
The most expensive words in this business are “claim denied.” The system is built to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Direct MAS connection
Trips assigned through MAS flow straight onto the dispatch board — no re-typing, no missed legs.
The billing bodyguard
Before any trip is submitted for payment, the system checks everything MAS requires: GPS proof at pickup and drop-off, true timestamps, on-time performance, and vehicle inspections on file. Only clean trips go out the door.
Problems flagged before they cost you
A trip that would be denied gets held back with a plain list of exactly what’s missing, so it can be fixed instead of forfeited.
Proof when a ride is disputed
Every ride carries a GPS-and-timestamp paper trail from the driver’s phone. When someone asks “did this trip really happen?”, there’s always an answer.
A phone app drivers actually like
Everything a driver needs for the day, on the phone already in their pocket.
The whole day on one screen
Runs listed in order with big, obvious buttons for each step: on my way, arrived, rider aboard, dropped off. Dispatch sees each tap the moment it happens.
Works in dead zones
No signal in the hills? Taps are saved on the phone and sent automatically once coverage returns — recorded with the true time, not the catch-up time.
Built-in navigation that talks
Turn-by-turn directions inside the app, spoken aloud in the driver’s choice of four voices, starting automatically when the drive begins.
Photo vehicle check
Before a shift, the driver photographs both sides of the vehicle. The system compares the photos to the vehicle on file and flags anything that doesn’t match.
Privacy screen lock
Plug the phone in at the end of a run and the screen locks itself, so rider information is never left showing on a docked phone.
Keeps itself current
When a new version of the app is released, drivers see a banner and update with one tap. Nobody is ever running old software.
Mileage and pay that track themselves
No notebooks, no guesswork — the numbers come straight from the trips.
Mileage measures itself
GPS measures the miles with a rider aboard and the empty miles between stops, for every trip, automatically. Ready for taxes and reimbursement.
Earnings in the open
Drivers see their earnings, trip by trip, right in the app. The office sees the same numbers — private fares, MAS rates, or standard pricing, whichever applies to each trip.
Expenses with receipts
A driver snaps a photo of a fuel or repair receipt; the office approves, rejects, or marks it paid. Everything in one place.
Payouts and advances
Pay drivers out against their balance, or give an advance that repays itself a set amount each week — the system keeps score.
One-click export
Earnings and mileage export to a spreadsheet your accountant can open — one click.
Onboarding without paperwork
Adding a driver or a vehicle takes minutes, not afternoons.
Driver license verification
The driver scans a code with their phone and photographs their license; an identity service confirms it’s real and current, and the expiration date goes on file.
Vehicles onboard themselves
Point a phone at the VIN plate. The system reads it and fills in the year, make, and model from the federal vehicle database — no typing 17 characters by hand.
One link hires a driver
Send a new hire a single link. They install the app, sign in, and they’re on the board — no IT visit required.
Where the next rides come from
The riders are already out there — these are the doors to knock on in Steuben, Livingston, and Ontario counties, and why each one needs a dependable ride service.
Dialysis centers
The steadiest work in medical transportation. Dialysis patients ride three times a week, every week, on a fixed schedule — one patient is a standing route, ten is a business. Ask the clinic social worker who arranges rides for patients who miss treatments.
- Fresenius Kidney Care — Hornell
- DaVita Dialysis — Corning
Hospital discharge desks
Every hospital has case managers who must arrange a safe ride home before a patient can leave — and outpatient surgery centers won’t sedate anyone without a confirmed ride. One introduction to a discharge planner can mean daily calls.
- St. James Hospital — Hornell
- Noyes Health — Dansville
- Ira Davenport Hospital — Bath
- Guthrie Corning Hospital
- Thompson Health — Canandaigua
Cancer care & rehab clinics
Chemo and radiation patients often can’t safely drive home after treatment, and people rebuilding after a stroke, surgery, or joint replacement need rides to therapy several times a week. These clinics keep lists of drivers they trust.
- Guthrie Cancer Center — Corning
- Physical therapy & rehab clinics in every town we serve
Nursing homes & assisted living
Residents constantly need rides to outside specialists, dentists, and clinics — and facility vans can’t cover it all. The activities director or social worker books the transport.
- Elderwood at Hornell
- Hornell Gardens
- Steuben Center for Rehabilitation — Bath
- Corning Center for Rehabilitation
Veterans
The Bath VA Medical Center is right in the service area. Volunteer driver networks can’t cover every appointment, and the VA pays for “special mode” rides for veterans who qualify. County Veterans Service Agencies also arrange and refer rides.
- Bath VA Medical Center
- Steuben, Livingston & Ontario County Veterans Service Agencies
County aging programs
Each county’s Office for the Aging arranges rides for seniors, leaning on volunteers who can’t cover everything — they refer out what they can’t handle. Heads-up: the Steuben County Council on Aging runs a bus service also called STAR (“Steuben Takes a Ride”) — a partner opportunity, and a name worth knowing about.
- Steuben County Office for the Aging — Bath
- Livingston County Office for the Aging
- Ontario County Office for the Aging
Getting on the lists
Most of these referral streams come from a one-time sign-up. Here’s the checklist, in rough order of payoff.
- MAS (Medicaid rides)
Already done — the system is wired into MAS today, importing assigned trips and submitting clean ones.
- NPI number
A free one-time federal provider ID (about 20 minutes online). Brokers and insurers ask for it before anything else.
- Medicare Advantage brokers
ModivCare, MTM, and SafeRide Health manage rides for insurance plans. Enrolling as a provider in their networks adds a second stream of dispatched trips on top of MAS.
- 211 Finger Lakes listing
The referral line social workers and families call. Listing is free; for-profit companies get in when they take Medicaid or fill a service gap — STAR does both.
- Senior-care directories
Eldercare Locator, the Area Agencies on Aging, and findhelp.org are the directories hospital social workers actually search. Free profiles, steady referral trickle.
- Workers’ comp insurers
Injured-worker cases pay above-Medicaid rates for recurring rides to treatment and rehab appointments.
Where the system goes next
The build plan, in plain English — roughly in order. The first three exist to make the growth plan above easier to win.
Standing orders
Book it once, ride it every week. A dialysis rider who goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6am gets all of those trips created automatically, week after week — nobody re-enters them and nothing gets forgotten. Cancel one day without touching the rest. Recurring riders are the backbone of this business, and this makes them effortless to keep.
Facility accounts & monthly invoicing
Give a nursing home, discharge desk, or county program its own login. Their staff book rides under the facility’s account at the rate you agreed on, and at the end of the month they get one clean, itemized invoice instead of a stack of phone calls. It’s the difference between a facility that calls sometimes and a facility that’s a client.
Rider text messages
A reminder text the night before and a “your driver is 10 minutes away” text on the day. A missed pickup is an unpaid trip, and a rider who forgot is the most common reason — a simple text is the cheapest fix there is. It also makes the operation feel big-league to riders, family members, and the caseworkers who book on their behalf.
Document expiry alerts
The system already knows when each driver’s license expires and when each vehicle’s registration, insurance, and inspection run out. This adds a warning weeks before anything lapses — because a driver with an expired document isn’t just a paperwork problem, they’re a driver whose trips can no longer be billed.
No-show proof
When a rider doesn’t come to the door, one tap records the driver’s arrival time and GPS position, starts the wait clock, and files the evidence. When a “that ride never showed up” dispute comes later, you answer with a timestamped record instead of a memory.
Hands-free billing submission
Today, clean trips are submitted to Medicaid with a button. This makes it automatic: every night, trips that pass every check submit themselves, and anything with a problem is held out with a plain list of what to fix. Money moves without anyone having to remember to move it.
Smarter day planning
The system already measures every empty mile between stops. Next it can use that: suggest the best trip order for each driver’s day, and flag when two riders are headed the same direction at the same time and could ride together. Fewer empty miles is pure profit — same fleet, same day, more paid trips.
Driver schedules
A simple availability calendar — who’s working, who’s off, who can cover a Saturday. Assignment then leans on real availability instead of the dispatcher’s memory, and drivers can see their week in the app instead of texting to ask.
Performance dashboard
The GPS trail already proves when every pickup happened. Roll that up and you get numbers worth bragging about: on-time percentage, revenue per mile, busiest facilities, busiest days. “We ran 96% on-time last quarter” is the strongest sentence you can say in a pitch meeting — this puts it on one screen.
Rider & caseworker portal
A simple sign-in where riders — or the caseworkers and family members who manage their care — can see upcoming rides, cancel, or rebook without calling dispatch. Fewer phone calls for the office, more control for the people booking.
Wheelchair service, ready when you are
Under the hood, the system already understands wheelchair riders and lift-equipped vehicles — it’s switched off in public because today’s fleet is passenger cars. The day a lift van joins the fleet, wheelchair trips open up with a flip of a switch: booking options, vehicle matching, and the higher Medicaid rates that come with them.
More regions, more brands
The platform was built so a second transport company — a different name, different colors, different town — can run on the same engine. Once STAR is humming, the software itself becomes something to sell: license it to an operator two counties over, and the system earns even when the cars are parked.
Have an idea? We’re listening
See something you’d change, or a feature you wish the system had? Drop it here — it goes straight to the team that builds it.
And it’s all one system
No juggling five apps that don’t talk to each other. The website, the dispatch board, and the driver app share one brain.
- Secure sign-in for every role — owner, dispatcher, and driver each see exactly what they should.
- Every status change is time-stamped and logged: who did what, and when.
- Built with room to grow — more vehicles, more drivers, and more territory on the same system.