GENERAL QUESTIONS
TangoRide is a real-time carpooling app that matches drivers and passengers and performs the tax-free cost recovery transaction between passenger and driver. The app is free for people to download with only a small TangoRide matching fee charged to the passenger for each carpool commute taken.
TangoRide automatically determines a fair level of trip reimbursement from passenger to driver for each commute, so users completely avoid awkward negotiating. TangoRide users enjoy a seamless transaction as the trip reimbursement is handled within the app for each trip.
Simply put, this means a reduction in running costs for drivers, a reduction in time and travel costs for the passenger and a meaningful reduction in vehicle emissions for the planet. We are passionate about providing an efficient and reliable new commuting mode for workers that is far less expensive than solo driving and far more convenient than public transit.
Provincial carpooling law allows drivers to recover some of the costs of operating their vehicle by sharing one round trip per day with passengers, as long as the driver is not turning a profit. TangoRide’s cost recovery per trip pricing formulas make sure that it is always below the taxable cost recovery threshold. Personal vehicles used for the purposes of carpooling by the drivers are also not required to register as commercial vehicles.
Your regular car insurance policy should cover you for carpooling since Canadian law allows one round-trip carpool trip per day without being considered a Commercial Driver. As carpooling falls under provincial legislation you’ll need to conform to your province’s laws (see the “Is carpooling legal in Canada” question for more information on provincial legislation).
We suggest that all drivers check with their insurance company to ensure that no extra coverage is needed. We also suggest that any rush hours drivers that switch to full-time TangoRide passengers check with their insurance company to see if they can get their insurance rate lowered going forward.
Yes. Carpooling regulations are set out provincially in Canada. At a high level, carpooling in Canada is defined as taking place in a private vehicle, where a driver offers to share their empty seats to passengers going in the same direction, and the passenger pays to help cover part of the cost of the trip. The driver is not paid for providing a service, and does not make a profit from carpooling, but recovers some of their operating costs. Below is a list of provincial legislation:
Provincial Carpooling Legislation
-
- Alberta Traffic Safety Act, Transportation Alberta Carrier Services FAQ
- British Columbia Passenger Transportation Act
- Saskatchewan Traffic Safety Act – no information available, but Saskatchewan Government Insurance provides guidance on the definition of carpooling.
- Manitoba Highway Traffic Act no information available on carpooling
- New Brunswick Motor Carrier Act, section 1
- Newfoundland and Labrador Motor Carrier Regulations, section 2(j)
- Northwest Territories Motor Vehicle Act
- Nova Scotia Motor Carrier Act, section 2(l)
- Ontario: Bill 213, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act has replaced the Public Vehicles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.54
- Québec: Chapitre S-6.01 LOI CONCERNANT LES SERVICES DE TRANSPORT PAR TAXI, section 3°
Joining is simple, quick and completely free. Once you’ve downloaded the app it will take you through the Sign Up process. TangoRide is available to anyone 18 or older. If you wish to join as a driver then you will need a valid Provincial or Territory driving licence, vehicle details and your bank account details to receive funds. If you want to use TangoRide as a passenger, you can sign up with your personal information such as name, gender, mobile number, email address & credit/debit card. Drivers please note that you can easily switch to being a passenger within the app as well.
- Drivers and passengers each reduce their solo commuting costs by more than 40%
- You will reduce your commuting carbon footprint by more than 50%.
- Passengers can reduce travel times and enjoy less commuter stress and feel great about reducing congestion, accidents and pollution.
- Drivers get more disposable income and engaging conversations to and from work.
- Helps to reduce parking problems.
- It’s a great way to make new neighborhood friends and building community.
Any commute to work is appropriate for sharing. The important thing to keep in mind is that carpooling legislation allows for one round trip carpool per day. Currently, TangoRide is focusing on the largest volume of solo driving, which is commuting to work since this is the greatest opportunity to reduce congestion, pollution and accidents for cities.
Offering a carpool is easy using the TangoRide app. For quick how-to video tutorial, click on the type of trip you are trying to offer:
- Instant – Use Instant Ride when you want to leave immediately. TangoRide will begin to search and match a Driver/Passenger commute.
- Scheduled – Use Schedule Ride for a carpool trip that’ you want to take at a later time/day and you will be notified when the trip is matched to a Driver’s Offer or Passenger’s request.
- Routine – Use Routine Ride to save your routine commutes for the week and TangoRide will notify you of potential matches in advance.
Your safety is TangoRide’s top priority, and we’ve taken steps to ensure that your personal information is kept safe and secure, and that your TangoRide trips are as equally safe:
- TangoRide passengers are verified through email & mobile number, whereas TangoRide Drivers are verified further through driving license, facial verification matching and a KYC check done by payment partner Stripe.
- Transaction information is securely handled by Stripe.
- Cashless transactions using Stripe protects you from scams.
- Personal contact information is kept private.
- Driver and vehicle photos provide confirmation to each Passenger.
- Passenger photo provides confirmation to each Driver.
For more details on what we’re doing to keep you safe, please visit our Safety Page.
There are no fees to join TangoRide. The only time a Passenger is charged a fee is when they accept a carpool ride. The TangoRide App determines the amount of cost recovery transferred from the Passenger to the Driver for each carpool trip so that TangoRide users avoid awkward negotiations. Since TangoRide carpooling is all about splitting the cost of commutes between carpoolers, the App ensures that the maximum cost recovery per km to a Driver is at or below 62 cents per kilometer, which is the minimum published Government of Canada Automobile Allowance Rate for 2023. This could be modified annually based on the Government of Canada website Automobile allowance rates – Canada.ca. Therefore, a carpool Driver is not making a profit, just recovering some of his or her daily commuting costs. The Total Passenger Trip Payment is comprised of the TangoRide Service Fee, including GST, plus the Driver Reimbursement Cost. Unlike a taxi business or ride-hailing company that is constantly looking to offer rides, there is no obligation for a TangoRide Driver, who is commuting to and from work, to offer a carpool ride and TangoRide does not guarantee there will be a ride for someone to share. There are also no surge pricing fees at peak time since TangoRide’s cost recovery formula is solely based on commuting distance.
This pricing model also makes it simple and transparent for all involved.
Passengers will only see the amount they are paying, and drivers will only see the amount they are receiving as reimbursement for the trip cost, which is why there is a difference in the price displayed on the passenger’s app and the driver’s app.
If, for any legitimate reason, a trip is not completed successfully, TangoRide will facilitate a refund. Please contact customer service with the details of why you require a refund, and we will be happy to review your case.
TangoRide is a community-oriented carpooling app and for the benefit of the community, there are no cancellation fees at this stage. TangoRide encourage community members to maintain high standards of ride offers and requests.
TangoRide will monitor the reason and number of cancellations from both passengers and drivers which may mean changes to our cancellation policy in future. This is to ensure the best possible experience for all our users.
Currently, users cannot print off receipts in-app, but upon each completed commute, both the driver and the passenger will receive emails containing the details of the commute.
No problem. You don’t need a car to be a TangoRide passenger. Many of your driving neighbors will be eager to offer rides in exchange for splitting their commuting cost. Plus, you both gain a new neighborhood friend.
Think of carpooling as sharing the same traits as a good friendship, with a side of common sense…
-
- Be accountable. Don’t cancel at the last minute and mutually respect each other by being punctual to the agreed upon pick-up location.
- Use the in-app calling or messaging to let people know if you have run into a problem and will be slightly late.
- Passengers – please don’t eat or drink in a vehicle until you check that other people, especially the driver, don’t mind and respect the wishes of others.
- Please refrain from smoking at all times.
- Remember people have different tastes; some like to listen to the radio and other prefer a quieter commute. Some people like to chat while others prefer to reflect in a peaceful environment. You all need to be comfortable, so please take each other’s preferences into consideration.
Both drivers and passengers can rate each other one to five stars after a trip. Your rating should be based on the overall experience of the trip.
When registering to become a TangoRide driver, the app will accept a valid driving licence from any Canadian province or territory as part of the verification process.
The app does not include any additional tariffs that may apply during the course of a commute. The Canada Revenue Agency rules for mileage do not include charges such as tolls and are designed to solely cover the running costs of the car.
If you are experiencing problems with the TangoRide app, please send an email to our Customer Service department at helpme@tangoride.com.
To ensure your email and cell number are kept private, drivers and passengers should use the in-app Chat function to communicate with each other, if necessary.
No, our cashless carpool transaction system is designed to protect both of you. All carpool transactions for TangoRide trips are executed within the app at the beginning of a shared commute to ensure there is no risk that a driver is not reimbursed properly, and so both driver and passenger know the total cost of the ride before agreeing to it. TangoRide community members should never pay cash to share a ride with a TangoRide driver and tipping is never allowed since this is purely cost recovery for the driver. Also, TangoRide automatically calculates the reimbursement cost for each trip, so driver and passenger avoid the uncomfortable feeling of having to negotiate the ride cost.
If you are under 18 you are regarded as a minor and as such are subject to different laws and regulations, which mean you cannot become a TangoRide member. We look forward to welcoming you to the TangoRide community when you turn 18.
We’d love for you to share our app with your friends and families, and can do so by using the “Refer Us” function from the main menu in the Tangoride app. This is not a formal referral program, and does not provide any additional benefits to users, but provides an easy way to grow your TangoRide troupe and help more people save money by using a sustainable transportation option.
Yes. The App will function with any valid data service.
Yes, you need to enable location services. The App uses current location as default to provide necessary details and availability of any vehicle.
If you’d like to let us know how much you enjoy using the TangoRide app, or if you have suggestions as to how we can improve it, we’d love to hear from you. Please provide your feedback by sending an email to helpme@tangoride.com, with the subject line: Feedback on TangoRide App.
Our Terms of Agreement can be found on our website at: https://tangoride.com/terms-of-service/.
Our Privacy Policy can be found on our website at: https://tangoride.com/privacy/.
DRIVER RELATED QUESTIONS
TangoRide has partnered with Stripe for reimbursement processing. Stripe is audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1 compliance. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry and they are fully PIPEDA compliant. By design, your credit card and/or bank account information is only submitted to Stripe and does not exist on any of the TangoRide servers.
As a driver, you’ll need to provide your bank account details within the driver profile. Each driver reimbursement will be credited to your bank account within 7 days of completing a commute.
Yes. As a driver you can update your bank account details within the settings section of the app, when you’re in driver mode.
As a driver, if you are unable to spot a passenger at the pickup location we advise that you wait for a short period of time before attempting to contact the passenger. They may have been unavoidably delayed.
If the passenger genuinely is a no-show, you can cancel that commute and the TangoRide App will search for another suitable passenger. If a passenger cancels ahead of the commute the App will automatically start to search for the next passenger. You will receive a notification when a match has been found.
If you need to cancel a commute yourself, you can click on the ‘Cancel’ button on the main screen. Please note that driver cancellation is only possible before a passenger makes the carpool payment. Once the carpool payment has been made, you can no longer cancel the commute.
You can specify the number of seats you have to offer and will be matched accordingly. The total charge for the commute will increase for the driver but never above the maximum allowable non-taxable cost recovery amount per commute.
Yes, but you will need to check that your insurance covers carpooling and that your employer permits it.
Drivers will need to confirm this with their car rental company as this will be dependent upon the policy of each individual company.
No, we currently only offer our carpooling app to drivers with cars or trucks.
Yes, but please check that your insurance covers you driving abroad and that it also covers carpooling.
Please contact customer services if your driver reimbursement hasn’t arrived within 7 days.
When the phone is securely mounted in a cradle, You are generally allowed to use phone for certain actions such as answering or making a call or use GPS. We would recommend you to check local laws relating to phone usage while driving with or without TangoRide app in use.
The app is designed so that minimal input is required once the commute has commenced. Please ensure that you complete the set-up of a commute before you start driving.
Hopefully this won’t happen but if an accident does occur you should follow the standard process by contacting the emergency services, obtaining witness statements and liaising with your insurance company.
If you are injured, please follow the standard procedure of contacting the emergency services. You can also use the in-app assistance button to be connected to one of our operators, but we do emphasise contacting the emergency services first.
You will need to follow your standard insurance claims process as TangoRide facilitates commutes and is not responsible for the events of specific commutes.
PASSENGER RELATED QUESTIONS
TangoRide has partnered with Stripe to facilitate carpool payments. We will only share the data required to complete your transaction and nothing else. Stripe has stringent data protection policies in place which are PIPEDA compliant.
As a passenger, you’ll need to make a fixed-carpool payment before your commute starts. A driver can only start the commute once you are comfortable and have completed the carpool payment process via the app. Currently, we accept Visa, Mastercard, debit/prepaid. Unfortunately we do not yet accept PayPal.
Please check the card details you have entered to ensure they are correct. If your payment still isn’t working, your card may have expired or been blocked from certain online payments. In this instance, you’ll need to check your card status with your bank.
You can store multiple cards on the app and select the appropriate one.
TangoRide has partnered with Stripe for payment processing. Stripe is audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1 compliance. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry and they are fully PIPEDA compliant. By design, your credit card and/or bank account information is only submitted to Stripe and does not exist on any of the TangoRide servers.
Currently we accept Visa, Mastercard, debit/prepaid.
Think of carpooling as sharing the same traits as a good friendship, with a side of common sense…
-
- Be respectful. Don’t cancel at the last minute and mutually respect each other by being punctual to the agreed upon pick-up location.
- Use the in-app calling or messaging to let people know if you have run into a problem and will be slightly late.
- Don’t eat or drink in a vehicle until you check that other people, especially the driver, don’t mind and respect the wishes of others.
- Please refrain from smoking at all times.
- Remember people have different tastes; some like to listen to the radio and other prefer a quieter commute. Some people like to chat whilst others prefer to reflect in a peaceful environment. You all need to be comfortable, so please take each other’s preferences into consideration.
- Don’t fiddle with the radio unless you check (or any other controls for that matter such as air con or lighting).
- It can appear unfriendly if you spend the commute on your mobile, chatting to friends or making business calls. And it can be distracting to the driver, so please take this into consideration.
At this time, pets are not allowed in the vehicle during a TangoRide trip.
Passengers are encouraged to wait outside the pickup location and look for the car displayed in the driver’s profile. If required, passengers can contact the driver using the call function within the app.
Passengers can cancel their request any time before making the carpool payment. TangoRide continuously monitors the number and reasons for cancellation to minimize future cancellations and to ensure continuing and improved satisfaction for all customers.
If a driver cancels before reaching the pickup location or doesn’t show up, TangoRide will automatically start searching for the next suitable match towards your destination.
In the very unlikely event that a passenger’s destination changes during a commute, please cooperate with your driver to determine a new, safe, and agreeable drop-off location. TangoRide expects its users to be cooperative and supportive towards each other.
If you are travelling with more than one person as passengers, you can specify the number of seats you require when requesting a ride and will be matched accordingly. In order to conform to Canada Revenue Agency rules, the total charge for the commute will not change as a Driver can only receive a maximum contribution towards the commute.
In the very unlikely event that you are taking luggage to work, we recommend that you ask the driver ahead of time that he or she will allow it.
Hopefully this won’t happen, but if an accident does occur the driver and passenger should follow the standard process by contacting the emergency services, obtaining witness statements and liaising with your insurance company.
We strongly promote good practice and etiquette for all users of TangoRide. If you encounter an unpleasant carpool issue during your commute, please contact our customer service so we can understand the nature of the issue and try and help rectify where possible.
Once a trip has started, the destination and cost cannot be changed as it is automatically applied in the TangoRide app. If for some reason a trip has started and there is a change in the destination, this is something both the driver and the passenger would need to agree upon, as well as agree upon any additional cost.
The app uses Google Maps to plan the route, so it should pick up any closures or diversions which exist at the beginning of the commute. As the app offers a fixed carpool payment system up-front based on distance and destination, there is no change in cost, and no extra costs outside of what is paid through the app will be incurred.
Remember, this is not a profit-making application and is designed to offset Driver costs (within Canada Revenue Agency guidelines) and offer a cheaper, sustainable transportation alternative to passengers.
