Metro rides, both rail and bus, will likely be free of charge from midnight New Year’s Eve until Metro closes at 3 a.m. Jan 1, 2017, thanks to MillerCoors.

WASHINGTON — Metro rides, both rail and bus, will likely be free of charge from midnight New Year’s Eve until Metro closes at 3 a.m. Jan 1, 2017, thanks to MillerCoors.

The Metro board on Thursday approved the sponsorship deal for the free rides.

It will be the second year the beer giant has paid for New Year’s Eve Metro passengers under its “Responsible Commuting” promotion.

It is good publicity for MillerCoors, but it won’t cost the company much.

The subsidy MillerCoors will give Metro is based on 2015 ridership during the same time period and on current trends of ridership, ridership trends that have been falling.

MillerCoors will pay Metro $81,965 in advance this time around. The agreement does not require Metro to provide a refund based on actual ridership.

Last year, the company paid $165,000 up front to cover New Year’s Eve Metro rides, but actual ridership was half the projections.

Under the agreement, Metro also indemnifies MillerCoors from any third-party claims, lawsuits or other action related to property damage, personal injury or death during the three hour period.

MillerCoors’ has similar responsible commuting sponsorships with public transportation systems in more than 20 cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis and Dallas.