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NEW YORK – America is a driving nation.
About 200,000 motorists are spread across this country. Americans visit the driveway about 6 billion times a year. Leading chains such as McDonald’s drive-thrus account for 70% or more of sales.
Drive-thrus promise convenience, comfort and juicy burgers to hungry drivers. But long lines of trucks waiting for orders from chains like Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts spill onto American roads across the state. And city officials, urban planners and critics say the model is misleading modern cities.
Traffic magnets and congestion, encourage carpooling, use of public transportation and visits to neighboring businesses. They also lead to accidents with pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, and run counter to the environmental and livability goals of many communities.
Several cities and states want to stop the expansion: Atlanta lawmakers will vote this summer on whether to ban new drive-thrus along the popular Beltline. Minneapolis; Fair Haven, New Jersey; Creve Coeur, Missouri; Orchard Park, New York and other cities have banned new drive-thrus in recent years. In 2019, some Southern California cities, such as Long Beach, passed temporary bans banning new developments. Restrictions are also being considered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Mesa, Arizona.
Drive-thrus don’t support any of the life and amenities that suggest people want to live, work or play in a neighborhood, said David Dixon of urban space at design and planning firm Stantech. “Drive-thrus was a more auto-centric world.”
The driver’s ground
Drive-thurs first appeared in California in the 1950s, according to the Smithsonian. An early Jack in the Box was a hit with kids who could order their food with a clown head.
The eat-in-your-car model spread on American roads over the next decade, as freeways were built, suburbs spread, and new fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s emerged.
Drive-thrus have become a lifeline for chains as restaurants close indoor seating during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to restaurant industry consulting firm Technomic, drive-thru sales will reach $133 billion in 2022, a 30 percent increase from 2019’s pre-pandemic levels.
Shake Shack and Sweetgreen opened their first locations during the pandemic, while Taco Bell, Chipotle and other chains opened drive-through stores.
Companies have turned to drive-thru models as they become more profitable: smaller than sit-down restaurants, requiring less staff and maintenance.
They make the most sense in car-oriented areas, and there are many drivers who sit away from pedestrian or bicycle traffic. Eric Dumbaugh, a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Florida Atlantic University who studies traffic safety, said drivers are often “in the worst place they could be.”
They are often deliberately placed on high-speed arterials to attract the attention of motorists – busy roads that transport cars at high speeds from around the region.
This means that if there is a pedestrian or cyclist at an intersection or crosswalk, drivers will have time to brake, increasing the chance of an accident. Drivers on arterial roads also typically focus on the road and the cars around them, and are less likely to look out for pedestrians.
Drive-thrus can be hot spots for rear-end collisions and T-bone accidents for cars turning left from driveways.
Companies “don’t factor security into their design decisions,” Dumbaugh said. And local governments pay lip service to pedestrian safety but still allow these services on arterial roads, he said.
More lines, more congestion
Companies say they are changing their drive-throughs by adding more drivelines and technologies like AI to speed up orders and reduce potential problems.
Starbucks told CNN that it knows the communities in which its stores are located and will “introduce the right type of store for the needs of that community.” Starbucks is testing different store models in different locations, such as pickup-only stores, curbside pickup from cars and drive-thrus.
But chains trying to solve congestion by adding more lanes encourage more cars to come. Accidents are so common that local personal injury attorneys specialize in car accident victims. Experts say pedestrian safety can be improved by strictly directing arterial roads.
Drive-thrus also don’t support neighboring businesses, Stantech’s Dixon said, because people typically grab their food and drive away.
A better, safer fast food model in these areas are restaurants and bars that contribute to walkable neighborhoods with seating options or on the first floor of multi-story buildings, he said.
Cities push back
Atlanta City Councilman Jason Dozier has introduced a bill this year to close new drive-thrus along the 22-mile rail corridor along the Atlanta Beltline. The Atlanta City Council is expected to vote on the bill in August.
Dozier’s bill was a response to pedestrian deaths in the area.
Since 2015, 14 pedestrians have died and 47 have been seriously injured in car accidents along the Beltline. More than half of the deaths occurred in the past two years.
“It’s a very scary time for pedestrians in the city,” Dozier said. “We need to make sure we can design communities around pedestrian safety.”
In the Salt Lake City neighborhood of Sugar House, the Planning Commission has proposed banning new drive-thru development in business districts after residents complained that drive-throughs blocked sidewalks, bike lanes and driveways on streets.
“It puts the vehicle front and center. It goes against Sugar House’s master plan to promote a walkable, mixed-use town center,” said Sugar House Transportation Committee Chair Levi Thatcher.
Charlotte has struggled in recent years with traffic jams from Chick-fil-A and other fast-food drive-throughs spilling onto the streets during peak hours.
A 2019 TV report from WCNC said, “Our love of waffle fries is leading to major traffic problems on busy Charlotte roads.”
Charlotte has a long-term plan to become a car-oriented city with rail and other public transportation investments. Kaba Samuels, chairwoman of the Charlotte Planning Commission, said.
“The more driveways you build, the more car-centric you become — as opposed to something with more mobility options,” she says. “It doesn’t make sense to invest this multi-billion dollar investment in light rail and still encourage an automated environment. It’s contradictory.”
However, the Charlotte City Council recently approved new Chick-fil-A and Bojangles drive-thrus near public transit stations.
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