There is no doubt that this Nolan/Shayshutt product represents an admirable effort to provide bus information for the town. It would be churlish to pick holes in this delightful booklet; but fbb has some concerns which might well be addressed in any future editions.
The big question here is to ask, "Who is it for?"
It is certainly a good buy for a bus travel explorer or bus timetable enthusiast. Whilst fbb has long lost the physical ability and the mental dedication to nip north to Shrewsbury to explore, he can now do so from his armchair.
But will the typical Shrewsbury bus passenger buy it?
As the production is not supported by Shrewsbury Council, Shropshire Council or any of the operators listed within, it is only on sale from EBay (£4.99 plus 91p postage).
So it is first and foremost a book for enthusiasts.
That said, do enthusiasts want postal addresses of all the operators or lists of subsidised services? Certainly the general public is not interested. Mrs Miggins might like a phone number or an email address, but she is unlikely to desire epistolary action using pen, paper and stamp!
Maybe the list of operator codes ...
... could be merged with a simplified operator list, saving half a page.
Three whole pages are filled with some appropriate bus pictures ...
... and there are loads more smaller illustrations throughout the book. Fascinating. Surely these biggest could be reduced to provide extra space?
fbb struggles with small print these days (A R M D but currently stable) so wonders how others may react to the font size. 
Above is a poorly fbb-reproduced picture of the timetable for Arriva 24 and 25. It is only on an A5 page and fbb does need a magnifier to avoid guesswork!
By removing three full pages of pictures more space would be made for a larger type face.
The use of "then every hour", or similar, is not a carnal sin, although some of the Arriva services do suffer from the present day utter stupidity of variable running times, even during the middle of the day.
Use of "approx every 20 min" would not upset knowledgeable enthusiasts and a general printed warning would ensure the Mrs Miggins's could allow a little extra wiggle room when setting out for their stop.
And how come non Arriva operators can manage consistent running times?
More space saved! Bigger type face available!
The booklet is replete with maps but offers no complete cartography at any level. The double page spread is from the Bus Atlas UK web site ...
... but does not include town services. The Arriva map is excellent ...
... but eschews other operators.
It clearly shows route OHS which is helpful, whatever it is; but the Park and Ride routes are relegated to small print ...
... with no indication of route. Probably that doesn't matter if the buses run non stop into town but a coloured line gives confidence to users even if it is tagged "non stop".
There is a selection of operator maps ...
... all of which, of course, appear on the main Bus Atlas network map. Does the book really need both?
One operator map defeats even fbb's magnifier!
Well, the line maps are OK but the text is, erm, how to say this tactfully, erm) useless.
As an enthusiast booklet, the inclusion of college day variants is of interest.
Whether they should be included in a book for the general public is always debatable. If so we would need college dates as well.
So fbb does wonder whether the booklet might be adopted by authority and operators in the Shrewsbury are if it were tweaked slightly to make it easier to read and thus easier to use?
Despite fbb's "suggestions" the booklet is a good positive effort to make public transport more accessible in Shrewsbury; and in this case 'accessible' means just what it says. People will always fail to 'access' the bus if its routes and timetables are well hidden in the bowels of the mess that is the Internet.
And they are VERY well hidden in Shrewsbury.
P.S. Can we have a numeric list of routes and their page numbers?
Whatever your level of interest, you should buy this book and enjoy!
Delayed GREEN blog : Weds 7th Oct
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