Rider Terms

Last updated: October 16, 2026

These Rider Terms apply every time you book a seat ("join a trip") on RIDEMATE. They are part of, and incorporate, the RIDEMATE Terms of Use (https://ridemate.ai/terms-of-use), the Community Guidelines (https://ridemate.ai/community-guidelines), the Cancellation & Refund Policy (https://ridemate.ai/cancellation-policy), and the Trip Safety Policy (in the app, under Profile > Privacy & Safety > Trip Safety). Words with capital letters (like "Driver," "trip contribution," and "RIDEMATE Parties") mean what the Terms of Use say they mean. If these Rider Terms and the Terms of Use conflict, these Rider Terms control for rider-specific matters, except that Sections 16 to 22 of the Terms of Use always control.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BOOK

THESE RIDER TERMS CONTAIN A RELEASE OF RIDEMATE'S LIABILITY (SECTION 9), A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT (SECTION 10), AND A CLASS-ACTION WAIVER (SECTION 10). They affect your legal rights, including your right to sue RIDEMATE and to go to court. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days (Section 10.4).

Each time you book, the app shows you a "Before you book" screen. When you tick "I understand the Rider Terms contain a release of RIDEMATE's liability, a binding arbitration agreement, and a class-action waiver," you are agreeing to Sections 9 and 10 below.

1. What you are agreeing to

1.1 RIDEMATE only connects students. RIDEMATE is not a taxi or rideshare company. We do not own cars, hire drivers, or give rides. When you join a trip, you are making a private carpool arrangement with the Driver, who is another student making a trip they already planned.

1.2 RIDEMATE is not responsible for the ride itself. The Driver, not RIDEMATE, decides whether and how the trip happens and is responsible for driving safely and legally.

1.3 You must be 18 or older, be a currently enrolled student with a valid school email address (see the Terms of Use), and meet the other eligibility rules in the Terms of Use. Companions you book seats for must be 18 or older but do not need an account (Section 2.3).

2. Booking a seat

2.1 When you join a trip, you are booking a seat on a trip a Driver has published. The trip details (date, time, pickup and drop-off, and per-seat contribution) are set by the Driver and shown before you pay. Once anyone has booked a seat, the Driver cannot change the date, time, pickup and drop-off points, or per-seat contribution; to change them, the Driver must cancel the trip, and every Rider gets a full refund.

2.2 A booking is confirmed only when the app shows it as confirmed. If a booking fails for a technical reason (for example, the trip filled while you were paying), you are refunded in full automatically.

2.3 Booking seats for companions. You may book more than one seat on a trip, for yourself and for companions travelling with you who do not have their own RIDEMATE account. If you do:

every companion must be at least 18 years old;
you are responsible for your companions: for their conduct before, during, and after the trip, for paying for their seats, and for cancelling their seats. The seats you book are one booking: cancellations, refunds, and no-shows for all of them are handled under the Cancellation & Refund Policy, and refunds go back to the payment method you used;
each companion is a Rider for the purposes of these Rider Terms and must follow them, the Terms of Use, the Community Guidelines, the Cancellation & Refund Policy, and the Trip Safety Policy; and
by booking, you confirm that you have told each companion about these Rider Terms, including the assumption of risk (Section 8), the release of RIDEMATE's liability (Section 9), and the arbitration agreement and class-action waiver (Section 10), and that each companion agrees to them. You accept them on each companion's behalf to the extent the law allows.

Book only seats that will be used, and do not bring passengers the Driver has not accepted through the app. A companion who wants to book trips of their own needs their own RIDEMATE account.

3. Paying

3.1 Trip contribution. You pay the per-seat trip contribution shown in the app. It is your share of the Driver's cost of the trip, limited by the cost formula in Section 7.2 of the Terms of Use (which includes a $2.00 per-seat minimum). All of it goes to the Driver (less the card processor's fee, which is deducted from the Driver's share). RIDEMATE keeps none of it.

3.2 RIDEMATE fee. RIDEMATE's own booking fee is separate and is shown on its own line at checkout. It is currently waived. If we start charging it, we will tell you at least 30 days in advance by email and in the app, and it will always be shown before you pay.

3.3 When you are charged. Your card is charged when you book. The money is held in RIDEMATE's account with our payment processor, Stripe, and is paid to the Driver after the trip's departure time (usually about 24 hours after), as long as the trip was not cancelled and no no-show report or dispute about it is open.

3.4 App payments only. Pay only through the app. Never pay a Driver in cash, by payment app, or in any other way for a trip arranged on RIDEMATE, and never offer or give a tip or extra payment. If a Driver asks you to pay more than the app shows, or to pay outside the app, do not pay, and report it.

4. Before and during the trip

4.1 Check before you get in. Confirm that the Driver's name, photo, vehicle, and license plate match what the app shows. If anything does not match, or you feel unsafe for any reason, do not get in, and report it.

4.2 During the trip, you must:

wear a seatbelt at all times;
follow the Driver's reasonable requests about safety in their car;
not distract the Driver or interfere with driving;
not bring weapons, illegal drugs, open alcohol, or hazardous items;
not smoke or vape in the car unless the Driver agrees and the law allows it;
treat the Driver and other Riders with respect, as described in the Community Guidelines; and
look after your own belongings. RIDEMATE is not responsible for lost items.

4.3 You can always leave. You may ask to end your trip early at any safe location. Ending a trip early does not by itself entitle you to a refund; see the Cancellation & Refund Policy and Section 7 below.

4.4 Emergencies. RIDEMATE is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.

4.5 Damage and cleaning. If you damage or dirty a Driver's vehicle or property, you are responsible to the Driver for it. Damage and cleaning claims are strictly between you and the Driver: RIDEMATE does not mediate them, decide them, or pay them. You can still report a user's conduct in the app.

5. Cancelling

5.1 You can cancel a booking in the app at any time. How much you get back depends on how early you cancel, as set out in the Cancellation & Refund Policy. The app shows you the exact refund before you confirm.

5.2 In summary, under the current Cancellation & Refund Policy (seats paid for before that policy took effect keep the rules that applied when they were paid for):

Within 15 minutes of booking, if the trip leaves more than 2 hours later: 100% back (once per trip). If you asked to join a ride, your payment goes through when the driver accepts; the 15 minutes start then.
7 days or more before the scheduled departure: 100% back.
Less than 7 days, but 24 hours or more before: 50% back.
Less than 24 hours before, or after departure: 0% back.
You don't show up: 0% back.

Any amount you do not get back goes to the Driver as your share of the trip cost. RIDEMATE does not keep any of it. It is not a penalty or fee. If this summary and the Cancellation & Refund Policy differ, the policy controls.

5.3 If the Driver cancels the trip, removes you, or doesn't show up, you get a full refund (unless you accept your Driver's offer, Section 6.4).

5.4 Repeated late cancellations. A late cancellation is a cancellation that is not fully refunded, or a confirmed no-show. Drivers can see how many late cancellations you have made this semester. After 2 late cancellations in the same semester, trips you book for the rest of that semester are non-refundable if you cancel them yourself, as described in the Cancellation & Refund Policy. The app tells you before you pay.

5.5 Safety cancellations. If you cancel because of a genuine safety concern about a trip or its Driver, contact contact@ridemate.ai or report the Driver in the app. After review, our support team may refund you in full, even if the Cancellation & Refund Policy would give you less. This is a case-by-case decision.

6. No-shows

6.1 If you do not cancel and are not at the pickup point when the Driver arrives, the Driver must wait at least 10 minutes after the scheduled departure time and try to reach you through the in-app chat. After that, the Driver may mark you as a no-show in the app. Your booking stays in place and your payment goes to the Driver as if you had ridden.

6.2 You can dispute a no-show. If you believe you were wrongly marked as a no-show (for example, you were at the pickup point and the Driver did not arrive or did not wait), open the trip in the app and tap Dispute within 48 hours after you are marked. Tell us where and when you waited, and send any messages, photos, or other evidence to contact@ridemate.ai. The payment stays on hold while the dispute is open. A person on the RIDEMATE team reviews the trip record and what both sides tell us, and emails you the outcome. If you don't dispute within 48 hours, the no-show stands and counts as a late cancellation.

6.3 If we agree you were wrongly marked, you get a full refund. If the payment had already been paid to the Driver, RIDEMATE refunds you and recovers the amount from the Driver by deducting it from the Driver's future payouts.

6.4 If the Driver doesn't show up, open the trip in the app within 48 hours of the departure time and tap Report a problem. The payment is held while we look into it. Before we decide, your Driver has 48 hours to offer you a full refund, a half refund or no refund, with a reason. You then have 48 hours to accept the offer or ask us to decide. If you accept, we refund that amount right away and the case is closed. A full or half refund still counts as a driver no-show strike. If you ask us to decide, or nobody answers in time, a person on the RIDEMATE team reviews it as described below. If we confirm the Driver didn't come, you get a full refund.

6.5 Repeated no-shows may lead to limits on, or suspension of, your account.

7. Payment problems and disputes

7.1 Contact us first. If you think you were charged incorrectly (charged twice, charged the wrong amount, or a refund did not arrive), email contact@ridemate.ai before disputing the charge with your bank. We will review every request and correct any mistake on our side.

7.2 Refund timing. Refunds go back to the card you paid with and usually appear in 5–10 business days, depending on your bank.

7.3 Chargebacks. You keep any rights you have with your bank. But if you file a chargeback for a trip contribution that was charged correctly under these Rider Terms and the Cancellation & Refund Policy, we may suspend your account while we look into it and may close it if the chargeback was not made in good faith.

7.4 Disputes with a Driver about the trip itself (lateness, route, conduct, damage) are between you and the Driver. You can report the Driver in the app, and we may act under the Community Guidelines, but RIDEMATE does not decide or pay those disputes, except for no-show disputes under Section 6 and refunds under the Cancellation & Refund Policy. Legal disputes with RIDEMATE are handled under Section 10.

8. Your risks, and what RIDEMATE does not check

8.1 Riding carries real risk. Riding with another student carries risk, including the risk of a crash, injury, or death. You are choosing to accept that risk. You accept the three kinds of risk described in Section 16 of the Terms of Use: risks of car travel, risks from other users (including the Driver), and risks from how RIDEMATE runs the platform, including RIDEMATE's own ordinary negligence.

8.2 What we do not check. RIDEMATE does not run criminal background or driving-record checks, inspect vehicles, confirm that a Driver's license is valid, confirm that a Driver's insurance covers the trip, or check that a Driver is sober. A Driver having a RIDEMATE account, a profile photo, or good ratings does not mean they are safe.

8.3 The Driver's insurance may not cover you. Many personal auto policies exclude carrying passengers for a fee or charge. If there is an accident, the Driver's insurance might not pay. RIDEMATE does not provide insurance. Consider your own health and other insurance.

9. RELEASE OF RIDEMATE'S LIABILITY

This Section restates, for Riders, the release in Section 17 of the Terms of Use. If the two differ, Section 17 of the Terms of Use controls.

9.1 BY BOOKING A SEAT, YOU RELEASE THE RIDEMATE PARTIES FROM ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY TRIP YOU JOIN, THE CONDUCT OF ANY DRIVER OR OTHER USER, OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, INCLUDING CLAIMS FOR BODILY INJURY, DEATH, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND FINANCIAL LOSS, AND INCLUDING CLAIMS CAUSED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY THE ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE, NEGLIGENT ACTS, OR NEGLIGENT OMISSIONS OF ANY RIDEMATE PARTY.

9.2 THIS RELEASE COVERS THIS TRIP AND EVERY FUTURE TRIP YOU JOIN, AND EVERY CURRENT AND FUTURE VERSION OF THE APP.

9.3 It does not cover fraud, intentional misconduct, recklessness, willful or wanton conduct, or gross negligence by a RIDEMATE Party; your refund rights under the Cancellation & Refund Policy; your claims against the Driver or any other user; or anything the law does not allow to be released.

9.4 RIDEMATE's liability is also limited as described in Section 18 of the Terms of Use (the greater of $100 or the RIDEMATE fees you paid in the prior 12 months, with the exceptions listed there), and you agree to indemnify RIDEMATE only for third-party claims arising from your own conduct, as described in Section 19 of the Terms of Use.

10. BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS-ACTION WAIVER

This Section restates, for Riders, the Arbitration Agreement in Section 21 of the Terms of Use, which applies in full. If the two differ, Section 21 of the Terms of Use controls.

10.1 ARBITRATION. Any Dispute between you and RIDEMATE (as defined in Section 21 of the Terms of Use) will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and not in court, except that either side may use small-claims court for an individual claim that qualifies. You must first send a Notice of Dispute to contact@ridemate.ai and give us 30 days to try to resolve it.

10.2 CLASS-ACTION WAIVER. YOU MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST RIDEMATE ONLY IN YOUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

10.3 JURY-TRIAL WAIVER. YOU GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL for Disputes with RIDEMATE, to the extent permitted by law.

10.4 30-DAY OPT-OUT. You can opt out of arbitration by emailing contact@ridemate.ai, subject "Arbitration Opt-Out," with your full name, your account email, and a statement that you opt out of the RIDEMATE Arbitration Agreement. You must do this within 30 days after you first accept the Terms of Use, or, if you had an account before September 25, 2026, within 30 days after you first accept this version (the first time you confirm a "Before you book" screen on or after September 25, 2026). Opting out does not affect the release in Section 9 or any other part of these Rider Terms.

10.5 Florida law governs these Rider Terms. A Dispute that is not arbitrated is heard in the state courts in Miami-Dade County, Florida, or the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, as described in Section 22 of the Terms of Use.

11. Changes, and the rest of the rules

11.1 If we make a material change to these Rider Terms, we will tell you at least 30 days in advance and ask you to accept again before your next booking (Section 23 of the Terms of Use).

11.2 Everything else (accounts, conduct, ratings, suspension, intellectual property, severability, and contact details) is in the Terms of Use.

Questions: contact@ridemate.ai · Legal notices and opt-outs: contact@ridemate.ai · RIDE MATE LLC, 661 NE 68th Street, Miami, Florida 33138, USA