Starting Friday, SolTrans is offering multiple discounted rides during the holidays.

The transit system will not operate Thursday, in observance of Thanksgiving. But for the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend, Friday through Sunday, passengers can pay 25 cents for local cash fares or $1 for a day pass.

The reduced fare tickets are only available for purchase aboard local buses, and those tickets aren’t available for use on Solano Express Regional routes.

The same discounts are available for special rides SolTrans is calling its “sleigh rides” to and from Benicia’s tree lighting and other downtown activities Dec. 5.

Two special routes will be available that day, operating from 5:30-9:30 p.m., according to information provided by the transit company.

One is “Sleigh Ride Route 15,” a variation of the conventional Route 15 that serves Military, Rose Drive and Benicia’s downtown shopping area.

Stops include Benicia High School, Military West and West 14th Street, Rose and Cambridge drives, Rose and Windsor drives, Solano and Hastings drives, Warwick and Chelsea Hills drives, East Fifth and East L streets, and East E and East Second streeets.

The other route is “Sleigh Ride Route 17,” a modification of the standard Route 17, that serves Hastings Drive in addition to Military and the city’s downtown area. Its stops are Benicia High School, Hastings Drive and Southampton Road, Hastings and Rose drives, Rose and Panorama drives, East Third and Viewmont streets, East Fifth and East L streets, and East E and East Second streets.

Tickets are $1 for a day pass and 25 cents cash fare for the two “Sleigh Ride” routes, and passengers can buy tickets only on the bus.

The transit company announced that it is offering the reduced-fare routes to encourage the public to use SolTrans when they participate in the city’s holiday celebration and tree lighting on First Street on Dec. 5.

In addition, SolTrans will offer free shuttles from downtown Vallejo to Wonderland Park during the Dec. 6 Mad Hatter Holiday Festival in Vallejo.

The free shuttle, for the general public, will take riders to the festival’s venues for the Hatter’s Tea with Teddy, Festival in Unity Plaza, the Mad Hatter Parade and Tree Lighting, the Lighted Boat Parade, the Wonderland Park Tree Lighting and the Costume Ball. It will make circuits every 15 minutes starting at 1:45 p.m. and finishing at 8:38 p.m. Dec. 6, with designated stops along the special route.

Shuttle round-trips will make stops at the Vallejo Transit Center, the Ferry Building, the Naval and Historical Museum on Mare Island and Wonderland Park.

SolTrans also is offering a reduced one-way fare of $1 for older residents for the general public’s “Dial-a-Ride” service. This is a pilot program that started this month and will last throughout 2015.

Dial-a-Ride accepts advance reservations, which can be made by calling 707-745-0815 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The service accepts walk-on passengers on a space-available basis.

At one time, the Older Americans Act provided money for free travel to older people riding to nutrition programs. After the act’s funding ran out, ridership waned as the trips began costing the standard $2 one-way fare, according to information provided by the transit company.

“Affordable transportation for our seniors is vital so they can remain active and engaged in our community for events, shopping, getting groceries and getting to medical services and visiting friends,” said Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, a member of the SolTrans board.

“This midday discount bus fare does just that,” Patterson said. “This is another milestone in growing transit in Benicia.”

The reduced fare, for those 65 and older, is for midday travel, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and all day Saturdays.

Those interested may visit the SolTrans website, www.soltransride.com, or call 707-648-4666.