Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In

It's 2017 and you have to take positive news where you can find it.

With that in mind, consider this development: Taco Bell is chasing customers who'll walk to get their fast food fix. The chain is moving away from drive-thrus, reports Devon Walsh at Food & Wine, even though orders from the driver's seat account for most of its sales. Over the next five years, the chain plans to open more than 300 locations without drive-thrus in major cities.

Steve Patterson at Urban Review STL wonders if other fast food chains will follow suit -- and what the effect will be on neighborhood restaurants:

Of course, this could hurt locally-owned Mexican restaurants in areas too urban for a typical Taco Bell. Taco Bell is part of Yum Brands -- KFC & Pizza Hut are corporate cousins -- maybe these will also develop an urban model? Expect other chains to also look to urban areas for growth -- adding new suburban locations is no longer a viable strategy.

Taco Bell recently opened one of these "cantinas" without parking or a drive-thru in downtown Cleveland, right next to the terminus of the Healthline bus rapid transit route. Say what you will about the maker of the Cheesy Gordita Crunch, it's a big change in the way fast food sellers have typically operated in Cleveland, where their locations are almost exclusively in car-oriented suburbs.

More recommended reading today: Writing at Medium, Darin Givens urges Atlanta leaders to address inequality and dangerous traffic conditions simultaneously. And Stop and Move posts an update on the agonizingly slow construction of a not-very-complex Fresno bus rapid transit project.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Albany Running Out of Options to Close MTA Funding Gap: Watchdog

Tighten the belt and give up the frills, the Citizens Budget Commission warned.

March 21, 2025

Advocates Demand New Jersey Agencies Cough Up Congestion Pricing Data

NJT and the Port Authority need to cough up some actually useful post-congestion pricing travel data, advocates on both sides of the Hudson River said.

March 21, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Fake Deadline Extended Edition

It's the first day of spring and, if you're U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy, it was supposed to be the last day of congestion pricing. But it's not. Plus other news.

March 21, 2025

‘Disaster’: Outdoor Dining Snafu Could Ban Alfresco Booze For Months

It's shaping up to be a sober outdoor dining spring.

March 20, 2025

Congestion Pricing’s Big Winner? Bus Riders

Buses move faster in and around New York City ever since congestion pricing kicked in — spurring MTA officials to tweak some route schedules.

March 20, 2025
See all posts