Winter is coming. And with it, the snow, and the cold, and the uncertainty for many families about whether the school bus will be running late or not at all.

Thankfully, there’s an app for that!

Fort Vermilion School Division’s new bus app is called “Bus Status” and replaces a previous app service used by FVSD. The new app functions in much the same way as the old one did, but with a new look.

Bus Status makes keeping tabs on FVSD buses a breeze. Parents and guardians can select the bus routes they want to follow and receive notifications in the event those routes are delayed of cancelled.

Bus Status is so easy to use. Just download the app and open it up. You will be asked to select the school division you want to follow. Select “Fort Vermilion School Division” from the list and you are on your way!

Once you have selected FVSD, you will see a list of all of the buses running in the division. To receive notifications on a specific bus (or buses), simply star the one you are interested in and you will begin to receive push notifications on your phone whenever there is an update to the status of those buses!

Not only will you be receiving up-to-the-minute updates on the buses you need to know about, but you won’t have to wade through a lot of information on other buses that you don’t need. And you can select as many buses as you need to be notified about, in case you have children riding different FVSD buses!

Bus Status displays busing information in three colours:

ON TIME: This is a green banner showing the bus is running as scheduled.

DELAYED: This is a yellow banner to let you know a bus is running late. It will also tell you approximately how late the bus is running (if possible), or identify another bus which has been sent in place.

CANCELLED: This is a red banner and is displayed if the bus is cancelled that day with no plans to pick up the students in place.

The app is available for free from iTunes or Google Play, and you can also reach it through the FVSD website by clicking on the iTunes or Google Play links to take you directly to it. If you do not have a Smartphone, you can still keep tabs on the latest bus updates by visiting the FVSD website at fvsd.ab.ca.