McDonald's Is Reinventing Its Drive-Thru

You may soon have to visit not one, not two, but three drive-thru windows to get your Big Mac. McDonald's on Thursday announced "Fast Forward Drive-Thru," a refresh that will see the fast food giant add a third window to its new and remodeled locations. The goal, per a rep, is to "better serve more customers quickly." Bloomberg explains how it will work: While you'll still pay at the first window and pick up your order at the second, you'll be asked to scoot up to the third if your food isn't ready in time—rather than clogging up window No. 2.

As up to 70% of the chain's sales come via the drive-thru, the company hopes the change will improve its lackluster wait time average of 189 seconds (compare that to Taco Bell's 158 seconds and Wendy's 134 seconds). Reuters reports that the company intends to spend about $3 billion next year in order to open as many as 1,600 new restaurants and remodel an additional 1,000. (More McDonald's stories.)