I was very grateful to find this automated toilet when I was wandering around Paris in June. As they say, when you got to go …
Public toilets are important, for lots of reasons. They make it possible to walk around a city extensively, as I was doing that day in Paris, without being tied to home base or having to stop and buy something in a cafe. Toronto is currently desperately lacking in restroom facilities you can use without buying something.
So it’s good news that Toronto is slated to get some automated public toilets like the one above with the new street furniture program — but only 20, which hardly seems like a lot. And they will cost $1 to use, apparently.
There were a lot more of these automated toilets in Paris. I was struck by how small they are — I had thought they were pretty bulky, but in fact they fit quite snugly on the sidewalk. Using them wasn’t exactly a pleasure, but they did the trick, and they’re clean.
And, in what I think is a big change from what I remember last time I was in Paris years ago, they are now all FREE. I would have been willing to pay at that point, but as it turns out I didn’t have to. That’s a pretty serious commitment to pedestrian convenience on the part of the City of Paris. I’m not sure if Toronto’s will have ads on them, but if they do, it seems they ought to be free too, paid for out of ad revenues. I don’t know if part of the logic for demanding payment is to discourage non-toilet uses, but it doesn’t seem necessary in Paris, and I doubt it would make a difference. The doors open automatically after 15 minutes, in any case.
The automated toilets are just one part of the solution, of course. Keeping open and maintaining more public washrooms in parks, better maintenance of TTC washrooms, and enforcing the Ontario Building Code provision requiring washrooms in large stores (Councillor Howard Moscoe is apparently keen on this idea) would all help too.
9 comments
I agree on all fronts, esp. around walkability. I do wonder, though…what is the liquid coming from under the door…eww.
As a man, I know I am less qualified to comment, but I have found little trouble getting a toilet in this town. I don’t see why we need more physical and ad clutter on our too thin sidewalks.
Use hotels and chain restaurants and walk in like you plan to buy afterwards. I have been stopped once in fifty times. Now, I am a white middle class man, so others probably get hassled more.
I’d be more impressed by Cllr. Moscoe’s new found interest in public conveniences if the TTC (his previous fief) had shown a similar commitment to installing them as he is demanding of private businesses.
After all, if you’re caught short on the TTC between the widely spaced toilets that do exist, and don’t possess a metropass, it will cost you to leave the system let alone access a toilet either public or private – and that’s before we talk about the condition of the toilets the TTC does “provide”.
I have to say, when I was in Paris earlier this year I found that most of these were not clean at all, and after checking out several and finding them below a level that I would use them at, I more or less gave up. However, I did see lineups at some of them, so they are obviously used.
I support having them in Toronto, though.
Dylan, I got news for ya: nothing is free my man. If it’s comign out of ad revenues, that just means the City is paying for it instead of you, which is actually your money thanks to taxes.
I say flush the whole idea…
“but only 20, which hardly seems like a lot.”
That’s 20 over the course of 10 years. Here’s the rollout schedule.
“I was struck by how small they are  I had thought they were pretty bulky, but in fact they fit quite snugly on the sidewalk.”
Toronto’s, being wheelchair accessible, are considerably larger. I believe they are customized Danfo MAPTs.
“I’m not sure if Toronto’s will have ads on them…”
They most certainly will. Scrolling, too.
“…but if they do, it seems they ought to be free too, paid for out of ad revenues”
That’s pretty much what Slate suggested.
“I don’t know if part of the logic for demanding payment is to discourage non-toilet uses”
I think that’s entirely the logic; Kyp Perikleous, in charge of the street furniture program for the City, told the CBC “That $1 charge will deter loitering in the washrooms.” (The original Request for Proposals stated that the fee is intended as “a means to regulate use.”)
“The doors open automatically after 15 minutes, in any case.”
In Toronto, not only will that be true, but also â€â€according to the same CBC story  “the toilet will automatically call for security to remove anyone who stays longer than 15 minutes.”
The 15-minute max seems problematic, especially for facilities designed to be accessible. Many of the people who most desperately need ready access to public toilets are those with medical problems that can lead to, uh, extended periods of use.
Knowing beforehand that a rent-a-goon will attempt to eject you if you’re not quick enough may deter these legitimate users as much as (or more than) many ‘illicit’ users (who may be able to do whatever they’re seeking privacy to do — shoot up, smoke a rock, etc. — in less than 15 minutes anyhow). It will stop people from turning tricks in ’em, I guess…
I’m pleased about the pay-per-use. The goal is not Urinetown, but rather to keep them from turning into homeless shelters, drug dens, etc. Seattle’s well-known failure with public toilets was almost entirely due to this kind of problem. A small deterrent may well prove very effective.
Smaller would also be nice in terms of dissuading negative uses, and taking up less space, but I suspect Toronto would get sued if it tried to install non-wheelchair accessible toilets. This is exactly what happened in New York years ago, delaying toilets in that city for decades.
My number one (or should that be “number two”) fear with the toilets is graffiti. Good luck getting the private company to keep them tag-free inside and out.
Dylan I have to agree with you on all fronts. I was just in TO and had a similar experience. This is the reason for the Iphone application I am about to launch. The app rates, locates and filters washrooms based on your requirements and standards and delivers the results to your phone, within a few feet of where your standing. You can even set the phone based on your needs. I would love your support on this project and would like you to become one of our beta testers for the app. Please email directly with your thoughts. look forward to talking with you soon.