Miller Lite Free Rides Return for St. Patrick’s Day

A Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus from Gillig. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

If you are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year and find that you’ve had too many green beers and need to get home, just look for a green and blue bus.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) will once again be providing free rides during the holiday thanks to a sponsorship deal with Molson-Coors. Though, this year, the free rides will technically run the day before the holiday.

St. Patrick’s Day — March 17 — falls on a Sunday this year. So Molson-Coors is changing things up a bit and offering free rides on Saturday when most celebratory imbibing will occur. Free rides will begin at 6 p.m. and run until the end of regular bus service: roughly 2 a.m.

“We are proud to support Miller Lite once again for its St. Patrick’s Day Free Rides program, helping our community take part in the events and traditions we look forward to each year,” said Kristina Hoffman, director of marketing and communications, MCTS. “Luckily for everyone in the Milwaukee area, getting a free ride on MCTS has never been easier – just hop on, enjoy the ride and embrace the luck of the Irish.”

The Miller Lite Free Rides program, as it is called, has run in Milwaukee — the birthplace of the Miller Brewing Company — since 1988. In the years since then it has also branched out to offer rides in cities around the country. The brewing company sponsors rides during major holidays that are strongly associated with drinking, like New Years Eve.

“St. Patrick’s Day in Milwaukee is an event not to be missed with vibrant cultural experiences and many opportunities for our city to come together in the spirit of the holiday,” said Alison Hanrahan, community affairs manager for Molson Coors. “While we celebrate this occasion together, we want our community to know that free rides are readily available on Saturday evening, offering an accessible and reliable option to get to their destinations safely.”

Before heading out, and definitely before stumbling out of the bar, first-time transit riders can download the free MCTS Mobile app, WisGo. Riders can enter a destination and the app will show them the nearest bus service to get there.