As summer comes to a close and families begin gearing for the first day of the 2015-16 school year, Solano County Transit has its own message for students: Take the bus.

Every year since 2012, SolTrans has been sending that message directly to local students and their parents through its Back To School Benicia Transit Fair. And this year is no exception.

Mandi Renshaw, a SolTrans program analyst, is in charge of the fair this year, said she’s not the only one who has witnessed how crowded the roadways near some schools can get when parents drop off and pick up their children.

Sometimes, she said, so many cars have congregated near the schools that children have to face street traffic, even though their parents had endeavored to drop them off at their schools, she said.

Bus routes 15 and 17 can give parents and Benicia Middle School and Benicia High School students in particular another traveling option, and stops also are made at or near the city’s four public elementary schools, Renshaw said.

“It’s not a school bus. It’s a public bus anyone can ride,” she said. That means parents could join their children on the bus ride, too.

Those two routes, both available when students return to school Aug. 26, coincide with school days and the current school bells’ timing, she said.

Route 15 leaves Military and First Street at 7:05 a.m. on school days, stopping on Rose Drive on Cambridge Drive at 7:10 a.m. and Windsor Drive at 7:17 a.m. It stops at Joe Henderson Elementary School, 650 Hastings Drive, at 7:21 a.m.; Warwick and Chelsea Hills drives at 7:26 a.m.; Seaview Drive and Goldenhill Way at 7:29 a.m.; and is back at Military and First Street at 7:37 a.m.

It stops at Benicia High School, 1101 Military West, at 7:42 a.m., Benicia Middle School at 7:46 a.m. and Mary Farmar Elementary School, 901 Military West and Drolette Way, at 7:51 a.m.

By 8:04 a.m., the bus again stops at Joe Henderson Elementary; at 8:20 a.m., Benicia High; and at 8:22 a.m., it makes its final morning stop at Benicia Middle.

Route 17’s afternoon schedule for Mondays through Thursdays starts at 3:15 p.m. at Benicia High, stopping at Benicia Middle at 3:25 p.m., Mary Farmar Elementary at 3:35 p.m., Benicia High at 3:37 p.m., and Joe Henderson Elementary at 3:50 p.m., along with other stops.

The Friday afternoon schedule can vary, but generally it starts at 1:35 p.m. at Benicia Middle, making stops at Mary Farmar Elementary at 1:22 p.m., Benicia High at 1:35 p.m. and 3:20 p.m.; and Joe Henderson Elementary at 1:53 p.m. and 3:38 p.m., among other stops.

Route 17, also a Monday-through-Friday route, starts its morning service at 7:02 a.m. at Military and First Street, with stops at Joe Henderson Elementary at 7:12 a.m. and 7:55 a.m.; Robert Semple Elementary, 2015 East Third St., at 7:24 a.m. and 8:07 a.m.; Benicia High at 7:40 a.m. and 8:18 a.m.; and Benicia Middle at 7:45 a.m. and 8:23 a.m.

The Route 17 afternoon schedule Mondays through Thursdays starts at 3:25 p.m. at Benicia Middle and makes stops at Benicia High at 3:47 p.m.; Joe Henderson Elementary at 3:56 p.m.; and Robert Semple Elementary at 4:05 p.m.

The Friday Route 17 schedule starts at 1:10 p.m. at Benicia Middle and makes stops at Benicia High at 1:35 p.m. and 3:20 p.m.; Joe Henderson Elementary at 1:44 p.m. and 3:29 p.m.; and Robert Semple Elementary at 1:53 p.m. and 3:38 p.m.

The special routes will start Aug. 26 and conclude with the last day of school June 10. They won’t operate on school holidays.

Those attending the Benicia transit fair Thursday will get copies of the two routes’ schedules and the accompanying maps. The first 100 students who arrive at the fair also will get free SolTrans Local Youth day passes, Renshaw said.

“It’s fun to pass out the passes,” she said.

In addition, those attending will have a chance to win a 31-day local youth pass. SolTrans has discounted Youth Local Day Passes, for riders 8 to 18, to $1 through Aug. 31.

Renshaw said the transit fair also is a chance for students to learn more about how to ride a bus and decide which fare is their best choice.

“It’s a form of communication,” she said of the fair. And the message is getting out: “We get pretty good ridership on those trips. They’re definitely used.”

The Back to School Benicia Transit Fair will be at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Doña Benicia Room of Benicia Public Library, 150 East L St. Those interested may call SolTrans, 707-648-4666, or visit the SolTrans website, www.SolTransRide.com.