{"id":15084,"date":"2024-10-20T20:45:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=15084"},"modified":"2024-10-20T20:45:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:45:17","slug":"drive-thrus-are-booming-why-are-cities-banning-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=15084","title":{"rendered":"Drive-Thrus Are Booming. Why Are Cities Banning Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“For modern urban planners, walkability is the goal. “The more drive-thrus you build, the more car-centric you become\u2014as opposed to something that has more mobility options,” said<\/a> 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kellogg study<\/a> 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<\/a> to 25 percent of Starbucks customers\u2014and 50 percent of the chain’s total revenue\u2014transitioning to drive-thru-only outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drive-thru bans also overlook the market responses already addressing traffic congestion issues. Taco Bell opened<\/a> 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<\/em> described it<\/a>: “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<\/a>, 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>“\u2014venues where locals gather<\/a> for everything from Bible studies to bingo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drive-thrus might not fit the vision of many urban planners, but the reality is they are becoming more important, not less.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drive-Thrus Are Booming. Why Are Cities Banning Them?<\/a><\/blockquote>