City authorities set up the drive-ins in an old industrial site west of the city, The Guardian reports. Complete with drive-in "sex boxes," the facilities provide streetwalkers with a safer, more private setting than their typical spot in the city center, and even offer shower facilities and a café. The only catch? Workers need to pay for permits and pay taxes.
"The new regulation of street prostitution has attained its objectives of protecting the population and the sex workers," the city said in a statement.
The Guardian reports that, on average, about 15 workers are at the brothels each night. That's half the number that frequented the city's old red light district, while the other two city districts that tolerate sex work haven't noticed an increase in traffic.
Issues? There are a couple. Prostitutes have complained they're making less money and that they're too far from the bars and clubs that populate the city center, The Guardian reports, while the cost of operating the facility has also been higher than expected, at $2.6 million since it opened in August 2013. The facility's neighbors, meanwhile, have told the city they haven't been bothered by the goings on next door.
