No Free Rides on D.C. Metro for New Year's Eve 2018

MillerCoors, the Chicago-based beer brewing company that sponsored extended, and free, New Year’s Eve hours on the D.C. Metro for the past two years.

Martine Powers reports that MillerCoors "decided not to re-up its partnership with Metro, part of the company’s annual 'Free Rides' program to offer free transportation options and help deter drunken driving." But it's not necessarily anything D.C. Metro did wrong. "Jenna Perlman, spokeswoman for MillerCoors, said the company tries to alternate between transit systems in different regions around the country — a spread-the-wealth approach in keeping with the holiday spirit," according to Powers. So MillerCoors will be sponsoring free transit rides in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Phoenix.

In Washington, D.C., MillerCoors is also "one of several companies partnering with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, a local drunken-driving-prevention group, to offer a deal for complimentary rides … on Lyft."

So despite the diplomacy from MillerCoors, the company's decision to fund Lyft rides and not transit rides inspires a one word response from Powers: "ouch."