MTA Access-A-Ride Taxi Reimbursement Form: Authorization, Filing, and Denials

To get reimbursed for a taxi, car service, or rideshare trip you took instead of Access-A-Ride, complete the MTA’s Access-A-Ride taxi reimbursement form, attach an itemized receipt, and submit it within 60 days of the trip date. The form is available online through the MTA’s reimbursement portal or as a downloadable PDF.¹ The one thing that trips people up: you need a taxi authorization number from AAR before you take the ride. Without it, the form goes nowhere.

Get Your Taxi Authorization Number First

Every reimbursable trip has an authorization number attached to it in the MTA’s dispatch records. That number is what the reimbursement unit matches your claim against, so it needs to exist before you get in the car. There are two ways to have one issued.

Advance Authorization When You Book

When you book a trip by phone or through the MY AAR app, you can request a taxi authorization in place of a standard paratransit vehicle. If approved, you arrange your own taxi, car service, or rideshare, pay, and file for reimbursement afterward. This option is available for trips that start and end in the same borough, and for trips to and from specific transit hubs and airports including Grand Central, Penn Station, LaGuardia, and JFK.¹

Day-of-Service Authorization When Your Ride Doesn’t Come

If your scheduled AAR vehicle has not arrived within 30 minutes of the pickup time, call the Paratransit Command Center at 1-877-337-2017 or 718-393-4999 and press option 3 for a live agent. The agent checks whether a scheduled or on-call vehicle is still on the way. If none is assigned, they will offer you the option to take a taxi and issue you an authorization number over the phone.¹ Write it down. Save it in your phone. You cannot get reimbursed without it.

Trips taken without prior authorization are not eligible for reimbursement, even if your vehicle was genuinely late. If you skipped the call and hailed a cab on your own, the MTA has no record to match your claim against.

What to Have Ready Before You Fill Out the Form

Gather everything first. Missing a single item is the most common reason claims stall.

Your taxi authorization number. It must match the date and time of the trip it was issued for.¹
Your AAR ID number. Found on your Access-A-Ride client identification card.
A complete, unaltered receipt. It must clearly show the date and time of the trip, pickup and drop-off addresses, and a full fare breakdown including tips, tolls, and any additional charges.¹

Receipt Rules by Vehicle Type

What counts as a valid receipt depends on how you traveled. All vehicles must be licensed by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.

For a yellow or green taxi, the standard printed meter receipt is enough as long as it shows the fare details listed above. For a car service (black car or livery), the original receipt must include the trip date, fare, car number, driver’s signature, and the name and phone number of the car service. For Uber, Lyft, or other for-hire vehicle apps, the emailed trip summary works, but it must include date, time, addresses, and the fare breakdown.¹

One detail people miss: tips and tolls are reimbursable, but they must be listed separately on the receipt or identified with your request. If the receipt shows only a single total without breaking out the tip, the MTA treats that total as the full amount due.¹

Filling Out the Form

At the top of the form, enter your full name, mailing address, and AAR ID number. The trip details section asks for the date of service, your scheduled pickup time, the actual time you departed, and the pickup and drop-off addresses. These addresses should match what was in your original AAR trip request.²

Enter the taxi authorization number exactly as it was given to you. A mismatched number is one of the fastest ways to get a claim kicked back, since the MTA cross-references it against dispatch logs. In the fare section, list the base fare, tolls, and tip as separate line items rather than lumping everything together.

If you’re using the paper PDF, type your entries or use legible handwriting. Attach the original receipt securely so it doesn’t separate during handling. For rideshare trips, print the electronic receipt and attach it the same way.

How to Submit the Form

You have two ways to file. The MTA recommends the online option for faster processing.

Online

Submit electronically through the MTA’s reimbursement portal at aar.mta.info/reimbursement-public-form.¹ You’ll enter the same information as the paper form and upload photos or scans of your receipt. You get a confirmation that your request was received.

By Mail

Print and complete the PDF, attach your receipt, and mail the package to:¹

AAR Taxi Reimbursements
MTA NYC Transit, Department of Paratransit
130 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Whether you file online or by mail, the 60-day deadline runs from the date of the trip. For mailed requests, the postmark date counts. Don’t wait until the last week and risk a postal delay pushing you past the window.²

What Happens After You Submit

The reimbursement unit checks your authorization number against internal dispatch records to confirm the trip was pre-approved, and verifies that the receipt details line up with what’s on file. If everything matches, a check is mailed to the address associated with your AAR account.

The MTA does not publish a specific processing timeline, and it notes that calling for status updates will not speed up the process.¹ If your claim has been pending for more than a few weeks and you want confirmation it was received, you can call AAR at 1-877-337-2017 or 718-393-4999.³

If your claim is denied, you’ll receive written notice explaining why. The MTA’s published policy does not describe a formal appeal process for denied reimbursement claims, so if you believe a denial was made in error, contact AAR customer service, provide any missing documentation, and ask whether the claim can be reconsidered.

Common Reasons Claims Get Denied

Most denials fall into a handful of preventable categories:

No pre-authorization. You took a taxi without calling the Command Center first or without an advance taxi authorization. No number means no reimbursement, regardless of circumstances.
Wrong authorization number. The number on the form doesn’t match the one in the MTA’s system for that date and time. Double-check before submitting.
Incomplete receipt. Missing date, time, addresses, or fare breakdown. Car service receipts without the driver’s signature or company phone number are a frequent problem.
Past the 60-day deadline. Claims submitted or postmarked after 60 days from the trip date are not processed.
Altered receipt. The MTA requires complete, unaltered receipts. Any sign of modification will result in denial.¹

If You File Reimbursements Often, Look at E-Hail Instead

If you’re filing reimbursement forms regularly, the MTA’s Access-A-Ride On-Demand E-Hail Pilot Program may fit your travel better. Participants book on-demand trips through five service providers (Arro, CTG, Lyft, Uber, and the Drivers Cooperative) and pay a flat $4 per trip, with the MTA subsidizing up to $60 of each fare.⁴ The subsidy is applied automatically at booking, so there’s no reimbursement paperwork at all. Check the MTA’s e-hail page for current enrollment details.