Certified Transport Specialist (CTS): the NEMTAC driver credential, its cost, and which payers ask for it

What the Certified Transport Specialist credential is

The Certified Transport Specialist, or CTS, is a driver certificate from the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission (NEMTAC). A driver earns it by finishing NEMTAC’s online course and passing the final exam. The 2026 course has 34 lessons, a quiz after each module, and meets NEMTAC 3001-2025, the Transport Specialist Education standard, which NEMTAC approved on February 27, 2025 and which is under review to become an American National Standard.

NEMTAC lists no prerequisite. It describes the course as for NEMT drivers, new hires and experienced transportation staff, and providers onboarding or retraining personnel. This page covers the driver credential. The company-level program is in the NEMTAC accreditation guide, and the driver training guide covers the rest of the training brokers ask for.

What the course and exam cover

The course has a welcome module and 14 subject modules, then a final exam. The subjects fall into three groups:

• Rules and duties. Duty of care and legal responsibility, HIPAA awareness, fraud, waste, and abuse awareness, civil rights and non-discrimination, and ADA awareness.
• Working with riders. Ethics and professional conduct, communication, challenging passenger behavior and personal safety, and customer service.
• On the trip. Mobility device passenger awareness, safe lifting and injury prevention, trip management and documentation, life safety, and DNR and end-of-life transport awareness.

NEMTAC’s overview says a participant must complete all modules and pass the final exam to receive the certificate. Ask NEMTAC about the passing score and retakes before you plan a driver’s first week around it.

What does the CTS cost and how long does it last?

The 2026 course costs $55 per student, and a completed course certifies the driver for two years. A company that trains six new drivers, as an example, pays $330. NEMTAC’s catalog lists no separate CTS renewal course. The only review courses are $25 refreshers for the mobility device and stretcher programs, taken after an incident. To learn how a renewal works, contact NEMTAC at info@nemtac.co or 866.636.8221.

Who asks for the CTS?

No federal rule names it. CMS’s Medicaid transportation guide of September 28, 2023 says federal law sets a few driver minimums and leaves other standards to the states. Two payers that name the CTS:

• Louisiana. The Department of Health’s MCO Manual, updated May 28, 2026, says drivers who give ELOC service, Louisiana’s door-through-door wheelchair level of care, must hold NEMTAC’s Advanced Mobility Device Securement and CTS certifications, plus courses in passenger assistance and safety and in sensitivity and disability awareness. The manual says these are renewed annually, which is half the two years NEMTAC gives the certificate, so confirm with the plan how it counts the date. The Louisiana guide has the rest of the state’s driver rules.
• WellTrans in Indiana. Its driver update form, posted in August 2026, lists “CTAA Pass Basic or NEMTAC CTS” on one training line. Its CPR and defensive driving lines name “NEMTAC CTS Hand Only CPR” and “NEMTAC CTS Defensive Driver Awareness.” The CTS 2026 outline has a life safety module and no defensive driving module, so ask WellTrans which part of the course it accepts before you rely on it for those lines.

NEMTAC also uses the CTS inside its own programs. Mobility Device Securement (formerly Advanced Mobility Device Securement) and Certified Stretcher Operator are bundles of the online CTS plus in-person skills validation. A driver who already holds PASS from CTAA, or a company-issued certificate that meets NEMTAC 3001-2025, can use that as the prerequisite instead.

How CTS differs from PASS and from accreditation

CTS and PASS are both driver certificates, from different organizations, and accreditation is a different thing again.

PASS comes from the Community Transportation Association of America. PASS Basic online has 19 modules and costs $28 for CTAA members or $55 for others. Under CTAA’s handbook, driver recognition is valid for two years. Full PASS adds in-person wheelchair securement, which CTS does not include. Louisiana’s manual lists PASS in its core driver training, and WellTrans’s Indiana form lists it beside the CTS.

Accreditation reviews a whole company over seven areas and costs $3,000 paid in full, with a three-year term. A driver’s CTS supports it but does not replace it. The NEMT certification guide lays out where each credential sits.

What to record in the driver file

When a driver finishes the course, save the certificate and record three things from it. NEMTAC asks for the same three when it accepts a prerequisite certificate: the certification date, the unique document identifier, and the expiration date.

1. Put the expiration date on a reminder 60 days ahead. For Louisiana door-through-door drivers, count 12 months from the certificate date, since the state’s manual says annual renewal.
2. Note which broker training line the certificate covers.
3. Keep the receipt with the driver’s other credentialing documents.

HealthRide tracks driver credential expiration dates and reminds you before they pass, so a two-year certificate does not slip by unnoticed. See fleet and driver management.