In the Fast Lane

So how does a franchise do it right? It's not just products that determine the success of the drive-thru--there are also operating systems that have to be in place. Order accuracy and speed of service are two areas eMac Digital LLC works on with its restaurant industry customers.

"Our kitchen management product, for example, focuses on getting the right food to the right customers as quickly as possible," says Blaine Hurst, president of Restaurant Technology Solutions, a division of Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based eMac. "In addition, we are working on monitoring speed of service, because one of the things we do know is that customers do not want to sit in a drive-thru line for too long."

The ultimate mission for eMac is to give the customers exactly what they expect from a drive-thru. "Customers are going through drive-thrus for convenience...so it better be convenient," Hurst says.

Before a franchise can deal with how long it takes to get from order board to pick-up window, it has to address more pressing issues in getting the drive-thru built in the first place. To combat the traffic jams and noise that often accompany the addition of a drive-thru, many cities are instituting restrictions on new drive-thru construction. "You have to worry about the zoning in major cities, and whether they encourage this or not," says Warren Sackler, associate professor in hospitality service management at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. "It isn't like carte blanche that you just go build a new [restaurant] and get a drive-thru--you have to go through extra permitting."

The city of Fremont, California, for one, was concerned with the impact drive-thrus were having on residential neighborhoods--its city council has asked for a review of current city ordinances to clarify where the city stands on new drive-thru construction. While the city is interested in limiting noise for residential neighbors of drive-thrus, Fremont is by no means anti-drive-thru. "I don't want to send a message to the restaurant industry that we're not restaurant-friendly," says council member Bill Pease. If noise and traffic concerns are addressed, Pease says he has no problems with new drive-thrus coming to Fremont.

Even if cities work to limit the impact of drive-thrus on their communities, the public's need for convenience is definitely going to make these quicker-service additions more popular. "Just being able to drive up and get what you need and get going," says Kimmel, "is something more and more consumers in all our markets are demanding."