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Once again, a night of free buses will be followed by a year of fewer buses.

As in past years, MillerCoors will pay for free bus rides in Milwaukee County, Waukesha and Madison on New Year's Eve.

Also as in the past, 2011 will continue a trend of cutbacks for the Milwaukee County Transit System, marking the 11th consecutive year that the county has sliced service, raised fares or both.

Three Freeway Flyer routes will run for the last time Friday. Saturday service will be reduced on 13 regular routes a week later.

To balance the budget, the County Board voted in November to discontinue Flyer Routes 39 (Timmerman Flyer), 45 (Watertown Plank Road Flyer), and 47 (S. 27th St. Flyer), effective Monday.

Route 45 riders, however, will be able to switch to Flyer Route 79 (Menomonee Falls Flyer), which will add a stop at the Watertown Plank Road Park-and-Ride Lot. And, at least during I-94 freeway reconstruction, some buses on Flyer Route 46 (Loomis Road-Southridge Flyer) will stop at the Holt Ave. Park-and-Ride Lot, a key Route 47 stop.

Then, starting on Jan. 8, Saturday service will be reduced to Sunday levels on Routes 10, 11, 12, 14, 31, 33, 35, 51, 53, 54, 57, 67 and 80.

Most fares won't change. But this summer, Flyer service to Summerfest, State Fair and ethnic festivals will cost riders $6.50 round trip, up from $6.

On the plus side, the bus system will add a new business park shuttle, Route 223 (Park Place-Bradley Woods Shuttle), in the spring. Under a plan approved by the board earlier this month, the shuttle will run to the Park Place and Bradley Woods business parks on the northwest side, which have been served by an extension of Route 23 (Fond du Lac Ave.) since 2004, when the county ended two other shuttle routes.

Transit officials say they were able to add the shuttle, discontinue the extension and revise Route 23's route without increasing operating costs. They used a similar strategy earlier this year to add service to three Milwaukee Area Technical College campuses and Concordia University.

Meanwhile, to help deter drunken driving, this will be the 23rd New Year's Eve that MillerCoors or its predecessor, Miller Brewing Co., has paid for free rides on Milwaukee County buses, and the 17th year of free service on Waukesha and Madison buses. The brewery's program, now dubbed Miller Lite Free Rides, includes:

Milwaukee County: Free rides start at 8 p.m. Friday on all 30 regular Milwaukee County bus routes that offer evening service. Most routes will stop running at their regular ending times, but 13 major routes will extend service, running every half-hour until 4 a.m. Saturday. Transit Plus vans also will offer free service for disabled riders.

Waukesha: All 10 regular Waukesha Metro Transit routes will provide free rides from 7 p.m. Friday to 3:30 a.m. Saturday, as will Metrolift vans for those with disabilities. Passengers can use Route 1 (Waukesha/Brookfield) to connect with Milwaukee County's Route 10 (Humboldt Ave.-Wisconsin Ave.) at Brookfield Square until 3 a.m. Saturday.

Madison: Free service will be offered on 26 Madison Metro Transit routes, and on paratransit vans, from 7 p.m. Friday to 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

As an added incentive, everyone who rides the Milwaukee County or Waukesha bus systems during the free service will receive a coupon good at one of several participating restaurants.

MillerCoors also will pay for free bus rides in Chicago and, for the first time, free bus, light rail and subway rides in Baltimore.

More information is available at www.millerlitefreerides.com or by calling 1-800-FREE RIDES (800-373-3743).