“For modern urban planners, walkability is the goal. “The more drive-thrus you build, the more car-centric you become—as opposed to something that has more mobility options,” said Keba Samuel, chair of the Charlotte Planning Commission in North Carolina. “It doesn’t make sense to have this multi-billion investment in light rail and still encourage an auto-centric environment. It’s contradictory.”
In other words, light rail is in, drive-thrus are out. But the reality is more complex. While critics may argue that drive-thrus cater to greedy corporate interests, in truth they are what customers are demanding. For many restaurants, the drive-thru model is the only thing that has kept them alive both during and after the pandemic.
The Kellogg study found that fast service restaurants with drive-thru windows saw a modest 4 percent decline in sales from 2019 to 2022. Meanwhile, those without drive-thrus experienced a devastating 50 percent drop. That is comparable to 25 percent of Starbucks customers—and 50 percent of the chain’s total revenue—transitioning to drive-thru-only outlets.
Drive-thru bans also overlook the market responses already addressing traffic congestion issues. Taco Bell opened its first “Defy” outlet in 2022, which features a two-story layout with four drive-thru lanes and food delivered via tubes. (As The Verge described it: “Think a drive-thru bank but you get a Chalupa and Baja Blast instead of cash.”) Chick-fil-A is rolling out its own elevated drive-thru, designed to handle double or triple the volume of a traditional drive-thru, and utilizing conveyor belts that can deliver food orders as fast as every six seconds.
If policy makers really were concerned about traffic, they’d be embracing these high-efficiency designs. Instead of a drive-thru ban, local governments could institute two-story zoning allowances by right for any drive-thru businesses seeking to open in the area.
A final consideration lost in the drive-thru debate is the vital role many fast-food outlets play in their communities. In some lower- and middle-class areas, restaurants like McDonald’s have become a crucial “third place“—venues where locals gather for everything from Bible studies to bingo.
Drive-thrus might not fit the vision of many urban planners, but the reality is they are becoming more important, not less.”