The best thing about taking a Valley Metro bus to Valley View Mall during the Christmas shopping season: no hassles about finding a parking spot.

The worst thing: You still get stuck in the heavy traffic, watching as the bus driver deals with crazed motorists determined to get in and out of the parking lot as quickly as possible.

At one point Friday morning, a maroon sedan darted out on the mall's ring road, cutting off a bus jampacked with riders headed to the mall and its big-box neighbors. The bus driver blared the horn as passengers chuckled. They, after all, weren't the ones having to deal with the traffic.

There are ways to enjoy holiday bargains at the mall without getting snarled in its traffic. Whether it's paying $1.50 for a Valley Metro bus, pedaling a bike up Lick Run Greenway or strolling through Huff Lane Park, it's increasingly convenient for those without automobiles to make it to Valley View.

In the winter, it seems that most people prefer the bus. When one bus left Campbell Court at 10:15 a.m. Friday, it was already full. As it stopped along the streets of Northwest Roanoke, many who stepped aboard found standing room only.

A half-hour after departing downtown Roanoke, the bus pulled in at the new Valley View Mall stop, located between Belk and Sears on the mall's upper level. The stop replaces one near the entrance of J.C. Penney Co.'s catalog department, which was eliminated from Valley Metro's routes in October.

Lois Eggleston was among those who disembarked at the new stop. Eggleston regularly uses the bus to get to the mall for weekend shopping. She was there Friday to check out the sales.

"Most of the time I'd catch a ride with my daughter," who works at Macy's, Eggleston said. "Then catch the bus at Wal-Mart to ride back home."

That system also keeps her from having to lug shopping bags on the bus, because she usually leaves them in her daughter's car instead.

Others don't have that luxury. Most of those on the bus leaving the mall had shopping bags with them. Fortunately for them the bus was much emptier than the one that had arrived an hour earlier.

Kimberly Brinkley often uses the bus to get to and from her job. Sometimes it's crowded, sometimes not so much, she said. Usually if she's shopping, she'll take a taxi so she doesn't have to carry her bags.

"It is a hassle," Brinkley said. "I see people get on the bus with all their groceries from Wal-Mart, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh.' "

There are, of course, ways to get to Valley View without having to use roads at all, but you'll likely be carrying your bags a lot farther, too.

The Lick Run Greenway runs from downtown -- starting just across from the Hotel Roanoke -- and eventually ends in front of Best Buy. From there, walkers can take sidewalks to most Valley View stores.

Where paved paths aren't available, pedestrians have tramped down grass to form what Roanoke City Planning Administrator Chris Chittum calls "pig paths."

North of the mall, city and Virginia Department of Transportation officials are looking at further increasing pedestrian access by paving sidewalks along the portion of Hershberger Road that crosses Interstate 581. That work is scheduled for next summer, said Roanoke Transportation Division Manager Mark Jamison.

There's also pedestrian access to Valley View Mall from the neighborhood to the east. Much of the Dorchester Court community is buffered from the mall by a wall or chain-link fence, but there are breaks by the intersections on Valley View Boulevard near Chik Fil-A and Circuit City.

City officials recently added a third break in the fence near the International House of Pancakes. Chittum said the decision was made "to address an issue where people were cutting the fence."

While the new break makes it easier to access the portion of the shopping center that contains IHOP and the Valley View Grande movie theater, neighborhood advocates are worried that it also makes it easier for petty thieves and criminals to enter the residential area.

Sid Bush, president of the Dorchester Court Neighborhood Watch, recently complained to the Roanoke City Council about the new fence break.

"I've found police officers in my back yard at one or two in the morning, chasing people who've come through that fence. I ask how they've got here. 'Well, they come through the fence.' Now you've given them an open line," Bush said. "It's for the benefit of the businesses, not for the benefit of the residents in that neighborhood. ... This makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever."

Vice Mayor Sherman Lea said he understands Bush's concerns but thinks the benefits of the new fence break outweigh the potential risks.

"Crime is something we have to be vigilant about, but we have to make the quality of life better for our citizens," Lea said. "It's a risk, but it's also a convenience and we think more good will come from it than bad."

The other potential complication comes from the mixture of pedestrians, buses and cars on Valley View Boulevard. Drivers may be used to pedestrians in downtown Roanoke, or even in their own neighborhoods, but most don't expect to see them in the auto-centric roads around the mall.

They key, said City Councilwoman Gwen Mason, is taking a shared responsibility for safety.

"It's incumbent upon us as a city to make sure we explain to our citizens and people know to watch out for one another," Mason said.

She added, to put it more simply: "Share the road, man."