Some Blue States/Cities Look to Ban Fast Food Drive-Thrus
A story last week explained how certain areas of the country are looking to ban fast food drive-thru windows due to congestion and climate change concerns. At first glance, it looks like a worthy concern. But on second look, considering our recent past, Americans should be livid.
There are an estimated 200,000 drive-thru windows for people to receive fast food across America. The 337 million Americans visit drive-thru food pickup lanes approximately 6 billion times a year. At McDonald’s, for example, drive-thrus account for 70% of their sales or more, depending on the store.
During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, most dine-in restaurant dining were forbidden, but drive-thru food pickups were permitted. This seemed logical at the time as the virus was believed to be spread by close proximity to others while indoors. Drive-thrus were a lifeline for both restaurants and consumers during the pandemic. Drive-thru sales hit $133 billion in 2022, an increase of 30% from 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to the Technomic restaurant industry consulting firm.
So you couple this fact with the fact that Dr. Anthony Fauci promised us the pandemic of 2020 back in 2017 (right after Donald Trump was elected President) with the fact that Tony is already talking about the “next pandemic,” and you come up with the one logical question for all blue liberals looking to ban drive-thru fast food, “What, the hell, is wrong with you?!”
“Fauci: We have to be prepared for the next pandemic.”
While drive-thrus serve the needs of hungry drivers, critics say the model is failing in some instances. They use arguments of traffic congestion, discouraging pedestrian walking and biking, discouraging use of public transit, and lack of support for neighboring businesses. They also claim this architectural design convention leads to more vehicular accidents with pedestrians, cyclists, and other cars and runs contrary to the environmental and livability goals of many communities’ futures.
In an article by CNN, they identified the following areas of the U.S. as in the discussion stages for making such a move as follows:
“A host of cities and regions want the sprawl to stop: Atlanta lawmakers will vote this summer on whether to ban new drive-thrus in the popular Beltline area. Minneapolis; Fair Haven, New Jersey; Creve Coeur, Missouri; Orchard Park, New York, and other cities have banned new drive-thrus in recent years. Some cities in Southern California, such as Long Beach in 2019, have passed temporary moratoriums blocking new developments. Restrictions have also been considered in Pittsburgh and Mesa, Arizona.”
Ironically, drive-thrus first appeared in California during the 1950s, according to the Smithsonian. Some there remember Jack in the Box restaurants where you could order a meal through the head of a clown. Soon, other fast-food franchises would follow. Now, California is discussing a state law to ban them!
Some news organizations have claimed that a switch to drive-thru fast-food business models was made because they are more profitable, requiring less staff and maintenance. But that is not true. The move was designed to better satisfy the needs of customers who often have little time for breakfast and lunch in their work schedules today.
While some urban planners make valid points that drive-thus are often intentionally placed along high-speed arterial roads which causes mishaps, many more are not. In other words, if people were doing their jobs in design and planning with both cities and restaurants, they would involve the math of factors such as daily traffic count, speed limit, accident incidents at nearby intersections, pedestrian/bike traffic, etc.
OPINION:
All the proof you need that this initiative is misguided is the three factors I have seen in my life:
- Tony Fauci has promised us a future pandemic, “We don’t know when the next pandemic outbreak is going to happen. It could be a year from now; it could be 30 years from now.” One can imagine him finishing his thought, “It all depends on whether Donald Trump gets a second term.”
- We have a nearby Sam’s Club gas station that has traffic problems and massive congestion. Both the city and Walmart Corporation engineers are working on redesigning the traffic pattern and flowing to correct this issue in the near future. This proves the problem is not about drive-thrus!
- The idea of drive-thrus creating more climate change is laughable. Most vehicles today have ESS (Electronic Stop/Start), which means cars in long lines waiting for their food orders are not idling because of this feature the environmentalists pushed for years ago.
Unless this was another failed climate change initiative that doesn’t help at all?
Which is it, climate cultists?
Copyright © 2023 by Mark S. Schwendau
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Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news-editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.” He is a Christian conservative who God cast to be a realist. His website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.