Exactly. But, a lot of the malls are in areas not served by bus. That's especially true with the ones located in the outer suburbs like the Woodlands, Deerbrook in Humble, the mall in the Clear lake area, and Katy Mills. With a few exceptions, the malls inside or near the 610 loop are doing poorly these days.

Generally it's NOT 'in the parking lot' ... it's all the way on the far side of the parking lot, as far as they can possibly put it. EVERY person driving a car to the mall has a shorter walk than transit users.

The mall I used to frequent had a very nice area for the buses... they closed it off and the buses had to load/unload out on the (VERY busy) street. They stated that the reason was the number of incidents with people coming off or waiting for the bus... but less than a week after they closed it off they were tearing it up to build a parking lot for a new business.

You have to love logic here in the US: Only undesirables ride the bus, so let's make the bus as inconvenient to use as possible... that way even fewer 'normal' people will ride it, thus reinforcing our decisions. ;)

It's discrimination, pure and simple... and the people that it's hardest on are those that really don't have a choice. :(

i've had some success negotiating for transit amenities within retail developmemts. much of the credit should go to the local planning commission for revising zoning/subdivision regs to require coordination with the transit agcy.

it also helps when you can provide market/demographic data to the retail management firm. i often point out that our typical express bus rider is female, in her mid-30s and has a household income > $60,000/yr.

i don't like having to resort to this tactic b/c our service is valued by a much wider demograph. but if it helps to change people's perceptions - and leads to better transit access for all people regardless of income, age, race and gender, then i think i've done my job.