tudents riding the Cities Area Transit now have a new way to keep track of bus routes for the UND campus or the entire cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.

Starting two months ago, CAT was able to add RouteShout to its transit system. RouteShout is a an app that can be downloaded for free onto a smart device such as a smartphone or iPad.

RouteShout is an app that many transit systems across the country are using. It is designed to help users efficiently use their smart devices to track the bus system and use it to their advantage.

Once it is downloaded, the app prompts the user to select a bus system in a state.

To use one locally, the user must choose “Grand Forks City Bus” under the North Dakota tab. From there, RouteShout will find a specific location, and the user can choose where they would like to go from a selected list.

The app reports what bus route options are available and what time they are leaving from each stop. Users can also look at a map of the entire bus route or view a list of bus stops.

“It seems super convenient,” UND student Amy Halvorson said.

“Something that I find difficult when using the bus system is always looking up the routes and times on the Internet, so, this would be nice because you won’t miss the bus and you know what route is best to take.”

CAT Mobility Manager Alison Rood said that the app is not able to track the buses and report if they are running late. When CAT is finished implementing GPS systems into the buses it will show estimated arrival times and if a bus is running behind.

These improvements are estimated to completed by next semester.

UND student Katie Guillette rides the bus. She finds that it is a faster way to get around campus and thinks that using RouteShout will speed up transportation even more.

“I think this app will help people be more on time to class because it will be faster to find out the routes and when they stop,” Guillette said.

“I think it will benefit students that may have never used the transit system before but all of a sudden need to,” Rood said. “They can download it in a matter of seconds and figure out where to go on the fly.”

Students can learn more about the campus shuttle by going to http://bit.ly/WbAS4I or by using a map that can be found around campus.

Ashley Marquis is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at ashley.m.marquis@my.und.edu