Tangentially related to this thread sorta, lived in San Antonio. There's a major bus station by one of the largest malls. Right next to it. But there's two sets of fences between the station and the mall and nothing between, DMZ style.
I got in trouble at a job once for giving someone a cup of water when they asked. Boss told me I should charge a whole dollar for it, because of the cup (I said "sure" and kept giving it away anyway). Policy in most places seems to be to not engage with someone unless they intend to spend money.