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Toronto introduces first public pay toilets on waterfront

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Mayor David Miller and Councillor Adam Vaughan cut the ribbon to Toronto’s first fully automated public toilet Wednesday morning.

Curiosity forced me to head down to Queens Quay and Rees St. and take a look for myself. The structure matches the rest of the street furniture that’s being installed around the city. The roof even resembles that of a nearby streetcar stop.

After I paid my quarter and the door coasted open, a woman’s voice welcomed me and invited me to do my business. Some background music, that sounded an awful lot like waterfalls to me, played  in order to add to the comfort level.

The room is relatively spacious and braille adorns every surface that has writing. The woman’s voice again fills the room instructing me that there is a 20 minute time limit and that she’ll remind me when my time is running out, twice more before the door automatically opens. Then, within the final two minutes a beeping noise will continue until the time is up.

Also, she reminds me; remember to use the hand wash station, complete with soap, water and a hand dryer, all underneath a full sized mirror.

It’s very similar to a normal public restroom, except that once you push the door open button (or your time runs out) and the door opens and shuts behind you, water gushes out into the room to wash the floor of all debris and the self-cleaning toilet seat retracts into the wall to be disinfected.

Sensors in the room ensure that this cleaning function cannot start if there is someone still occupying the lavatory.

There will be maintenance workers to check in on it three times a day to make sure that nothing has been broken or vandalized, and in case of emergencies there is a button that will send emergency crews to the unit. Emergency crews will also be sent out if the smoke detectors sense smoke.

Unfortunately, the hours of the little girls/boys room is only during the day, from 8am to 11pm, so no late night relief after the bar, but this should act as a deterrent from homeless making it their home.

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7 comments

  1. I hope they extend the hours on New Year’s Eve until after midnight. Ever try to find an available toilet in the city on New Year’s Eve? It’s impossible. Even places like Tim Hortons close their washrooms to keep out the drunken revellers.

    I once worked as a security guard in Scotia Plaza on New Year’s Eve and had to watch helplessly as drunken people peed on our floor throughout the night.

  2. The $200,000 cost is covered by Astral as part of the street furniture contract, so I don’t think the city has to worry about it.

  3. Looks basically identical to the one in Madison Square Park in NYC, which I checked out today.

    My only complaint is that I don’t think it really needs to disinfect *every single time.* It takes longer than you think, so the unit cannot process long lines of people very efficiently.

  4. “Getting rid of shit is what makes us human.”
    Why are they called *public” pay toilets? Aren’t they paid for and maintained by Asstral?

  5. I’ve longed for good public toilets for years – especially when I worked as a community health care provided.

    Yet, interesting the extent of efforts that go into deterring homeless from “making it their home”. It’s hardly a choice with which anyone would want to be faced. Shelter spaces are scarce and one risks getting bedbugs or TB. Consider that mental health issues may be exacerbated by sleeping in a room with 50 other people – 25 cents for private slumber even if it’s in a public toilet might seem like a better option. Maybe we should build a bunch of these building with cots *and* toilets and a little heat. It might be a compassionate thing to do over all this concern arising from our privileged place. After relieving ourselves we can ultimately go back to our cosy apartments or homes.

  6. Do these toilets have heaters? Or will they be shut down during the winter? Because otherwise things will get mighty chilly inside in January, and the floor will be covered in ice.

    To follow Heather’s comment: If these toilets do have heaters, and are closed from 11 PM to 8 AM anyway, maybe we should make them available as overnight shelters during cold weather alerts?