Mileage Reimbursement recommendation for CMC Trip Leaders
The Denver Group allows carpool drivers to charge each passenger a mileage rate to defray expenses. It is suggested carpool trips follow the Denver Group guidelines in reimbursing the driver for car expenses. The recommendation as of April 2026 is to use the mileage reimbursement rate from the following table, based on the price of gasoline at the time of the trip:
| Gasoline Price | Mileage Reimbursement |
| $/gallon | cents/mile |
| $2.00 – $2.50/gal | 42 |
| $2.50 – $3.00/gal | 44 |
| $3.00 – $3.50/gal | 46 |
| $3.50 – $4.00/gal | 48 |
| $4.00 – $4.50/gal | 50 |
| $4.50 – $5.00/gal | 52 |
| $5.00 – $5.50/gal | 54 |
| $5.50 – $6.00/gal | 56 |
Here is an example: the price of gasoline is $4.25/gallon, the round-trip driving distance from the carpool meeting place to the trailhead and back is 80 miles, and there are 4 people in the car. With the gasoline price at $4.25/gallon, using the above table, the recommended mileage reimbursement rate is 50 cents per mile. In this case, the carpool share cost per car would be $40 (80 miles x 50 cents/mile = $40). Since there are 4 people in the car, the carpool share cost is $10 per person ($40 per car divided by 4 people), so the 3 passengers in the car would each pay the driver $10.
This is a guideline not a policy, meaning that this is a recommended, but not required, method of sharing costs. Some vehicles are more costly to operate and some vehicles are less costly to drive, so drivers are free to charge what they deem a fair rate.
The Denver Group recognizes that this recommendation may differ from that of other CMC Groups.
The previous guidelines from February 2023 were updated in April 2026 to fully reflect the car related costs increasing faster than overall prices since the pandemic in 2020