Raleigh mayor demands bus probe

He calls malls' ban 'offensive'

RALEIGH -- Mayor Charles Meeker on Tuesday called the idea of shopping centers banning buses "offensive to Raleigh residents," and he requested a three-pronged investigation.

Meeker asked the city's Transit Authority to find the history behind four shopping centers' restriction of city buses on their property and to review access in general.

He also asked the city planning department to investigate whether bus access is spelled out in each mall's original site plans, and he called on City Attorney Thomas McCormick to suggest ways to strengthen the city code to ensure that buses reach Raleigh stores.

All will report to the City Council on July 10.

"The idea of limiting bus access is offensive to Raleigh residents," Meeker said, "and it's incumbent upon the City Council to do something about it."

Meeker responded to a June 21 News & Observer report that listed four Raleigh shopping centers that have barred buses: Brier Creek Commons, Towne North and Brennan Station on Creedmoor Road, and Bent Tree on Falls of the Neuse Road.

City Manager Russell Allen said the city will pursue access to three -- all but Bent Tree, where ridership is light.

Last week, Craig Davis Properties partner Scott Farrar said safety was the company's only concern at Towne North, where city buses passed once a day until June 15. He declined to comment Tuesday.

Brennan Station and Bent Tree managers have said their parking lots are ill-designed for city buses.

Officials at Brier Creek have not returned repeated telephone calls and could not be reached Tuesday. City records, though, describe the mall's motivation.

In a 2005 letter, Kandee Harrell-Bennett of American Asset Corp. wrote transit officials denying their request for stops on site.

"As you know the parking is very congested most of day and at this time we do not believe this to be a good fit for the center," she wrote.

Riders say mass transit in Raleigh falls far short of their needs. Buses run just once an hour on many routes, and it can take an hour for a worker to ride from Southeast Raleigh to a job in North Raleigh. Light rail has failed to muster political backing for the millions it would take to stretch across the Triangle.

Three of the biggest shopping centers have bus stops on their property: Triangle Town Center, Crabtree Valley Mall and North Hills. But bus service is not as convenient to some other centers.

Riders who work at Brier Creek have described hot slogs across the parking lot -- a quarter-mile or more -- after hourlong bus rides.

Mitchell Ricks, a janitor who works in downtown Raleigh, said that he walks an hour to catch his daily bus, and that the idea of mass transit banned anywhere insults him. "People got to earn a living," he said. "The city needs to catch up with Charlotte, Atlanta and Baltimore. These are hard-working people."

Typically, Allen said, the city will get a "transit easement" at larger malls such as Brier Creek -- gaining access to private property.

In Brier Creek's case, he said, there was an agreement to find a suitable spot for stops within the center's right of way. He has dispatched city employees to discuss it with Brier Creek.

Jeffrey Mann, head of the city's Transit Authority, said he welcomes the chance to look into mall access.

"It's obviously a concern to me, and I support the mayor," Mann said. "We want to provide access where we can."

McCormick said he will save his opinion for the council.