When you gotta go, where do you go?

Public Spaces

by Lynda Laughlin • April 28, 2009 8:26 am

We've all been there. You're out and about, and then suddenly, you need a restroom. When I leave home to go on a walk or run an errand, I keep a mental map of the closest available restrooms. I usually rely on restrooms in commercial businesses, largely because it is difficult to find public restrooms in the District.

Public urinal in Amsterdam. Photo by mvcorks.

Access to public restrooms is more than a matter of convenience. It is also an issue of public health and key to creating a comfortable, walkable, livable city. The availability of public restrooms enables people to leave their cars at home and commute on foot and on mass transit. Public restrooms significantly cut down on the public urination and defecation and make our downtown streets much more inviting.

The American Restroom Association suggests that every incorporated municipal district, city, or town should provide access to restrooms for the public at all times of the day and at any time of the year. Jurisdictions that are unable to provide dedicated public facilities should allow the public access to public toilet facilities in government buildings that are continually operational, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals.

Not all public restrooms are alike. The choice of facility depends on existing infrastructure, available management options, maintenance budgets, and overall population size. Here are examples of the most common facility types:

Automatic Public Toilets (APT): These are self-cleaning units. The cleaning process takes about 50 seconds: the toilet bowl swivels and is disinfected. The floor of the unit is jet sprayed and the seat is dried with a big blower. Doors are times to open after 10 minutes to limit extended use.
Many cities across the world use APTs, including Singapore, London, and Athens. Units are currently being tested in several US cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, New York, San Antonio, Atlanta, San Diego, and Pittsburgh.
Open Space Comfort Stations: This type of facility is typically a freestanding building with separate washrooms for men and women. Traditional comfort stations are made of bricks and mortar can still be found in historic sections of Portland, New Orleans, and Cincinnati. Instead of building a freestanding restroom from scratch, several companies now offer prefabricated "brick & mortar" restrooms. They are often the least expensive public restroom solution and are designed against vandalism.

Women's restroom at MLK Library. Photo by Lynda Laughlin.
Restrooms in Public Buildings: No doubt a number of us rely on bathrooms in publicly owned buildings such as libraries, museums, etc. I have more than once used the bathrooms at MLK library or the ~~American Portrait Museum~~ National Portrait Gallery largely because the access to other restrooms in the Chinatown area is largely limited to restaurants. However, access is generally limited and other public buildings such as court houses, police and fire stations typically restrict public access for security reasons.
As an experiment, Portland, Oregon opened city hall to the public for 24 hours. The experiment produced mixed results. Many residents appreciated the increased access, but objected to the increased security costs relative to the low volume of users.

Porta-potties. Photo by ghbrett.
Portable Sanitation Units (PSUs): Using a porta-potty, porta-john, or a porta-loo is not what must of us would consider a satisfactory bathroom experience. Their main appeal is that they are low cost because they do not need to be connected to a sewer system and they are easy to install and move around at a moments notice. Many Washingtonians became more familiar with porta-potties back in January when 5,000 were placed along Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall for the Presidential Inauguration.
However, porta-potties do not necessarily have to be restricted to large public events (or construction sites). PSUs are ideal for cyclists, walkers and joggers in park areas. It is rare to find PSUs in retail areas because of their unattractiveness and well, smell. In the Netherlands, in retail areas, four-urinal portable units are often used to meet restroom needs. My guess is that DC is not ready for such a public display of personal needs. Still, it's better than using the alley.

What's available in DC? What's possible?

Restroom on the National Mall. Photo by Lynda Laughlin.

In the District, public restroom options are limited. If you are at the National Mall, your best chance of finding a restroom is to pop into one of the many museums. There are free standing restroom facilities located on the west end of the National Mall maintained by the National Park Service.

Public restrooms are also available in a number of public parks across the District. However, safety and cleanliness are often a concern as well as the lack of access at certain hours and times of the year. The redeveloped public park at 14th and Girard, NW will include two freestanding restrooms, adding to the list of options besides in the area.

While I have yet to actually see one, there are about 78 restrooms in the Metro rail system. According the American Restroom Association, access to restrooms in Metro rail stations has been an ongoing battle. Citing security concerns, Metro has often kept restrooms in stations closed to customers. It wasn't until recently that Metro put up signs notifying customers that restrooms are available, but only upon request.

Photo by Lynda Laughlin.

Another source of restrooms in the District is retail stores. The bathrooms at the Target in Columbia Heights are easy to access and usually clean. However, businesses typically restrict their restrooms to paying customers. In areas with heavy pedestrian traffic like Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle or Gallery Place, if restaurants and other businesses welcome one person to use their restroom they will most likely soon be welcoming everyone, creating a steady parade of people walking through to use the facilities and most likely creating an unpleasant atmosphere for customers.

Advocating for Public Restrooms

Planners should pay more attention to ways public restrooms can enhance urban livability. However planning for restrooms in public areas in most American cities has not received that attention that it deserves. PHLUSH, an advocacy group for public restrooms in Portland, Oregon has led the charge for public restrooms, increasing access to restrooms in downtown Portland as well as honoring local toilet innovators.

Advocating for more public restrooms can be tricky. People are often too embarrassed to report difficulties finding a restroom, even though it is a common problem for all of us. The increased availability of public restrooms would benefit property owners, retailers, social service providers, health officials, tourism boards, mass transit authorities, pedestrian and cycling advocates and downtown workers and residents, it's just a matter of getting all them all to realize that public toilets are in their own best interest.

As residents of the District, it is time that we reflect on our shared need for comfort and dignity and think of practical ways to improve access to and availability of public restrooms.

38 comments — Share	— tags: DC, Netherlands, parks, Portland, restrooms, retail, The Mall

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Local parks need local government (Jan 2, 2008)
Brooklyn puts retail in municipal building (Oct 31, 2007)

Comments

What are DC's hotels like when it comes to people coming in off the street to use their restrooms?

by RAK on Apr 28, 2009 8:54 am

Two words: pop-up urinals. These should be in every "entertainment destination" where drunks urinate in public after hours. U Street Metro, Dupont Circle, and and every end-of-the-line station should have them.

by monkeyrotica on Apr 28, 2009 9:01 am

In Rome, by law all toilets in restaurants are public, despite this there tends to be a lot of nastiness in the streets.

In Amsterdam and throughout the Netherlands they have ample public toilets, often in the open but it keep the city nice and clean and gezellig. (The photo shows the portable type that only shows up on the weekends in Amsterdam)

I think we have a very old Puritan attitude about toilets that prevents us from having ample and adequate public toilets. In cities that have them the city is far more pleasant and clean and makes for a much better place.

by Boots on Apr 28, 2009 9:02 am

This is an issue that's important but not something that many people discuss. Thanks for writing such a well reseached report

by Terri on Apr 28, 2009 9:03 am

DC used to have public restrooms in many of the parks and squares up until the 1950s. One of the side effects of the Mccarthy era was that these public restrooms were labelled as nocturnal meeting areas for communists, fellow travelers, and homosexuals, and were subsequently shut down. Metro rejected installing public restroom facilities for cost/maintenance issues. Given their current budget problems, I don't see them spending their limited finances on resurrecting this issue.

by monkeyrotica on Apr 28, 2009 9:08 am

This issue has come up so many times while taking folks around the National Mall, I actually made a map up to show folks where to go (http://www.dclikealocal.com/2009/03/walking-tour-of-national-mall-bathrooms.html).

RAK: I've never been called out on using a restroom in a DC hotel. In fact, hotels are generally where I send people if one is convenient.

by Tim K on Apr 28, 2009 9:15 am

The availability of public restrooms enables people to leave their cars at home and commute on foot and on mass transit.

You have got to be kidding me. And why is that? Because people with a car pee in their car when they have to?

BTW: These plastic peeing poles (pispalen) in Amsterdam are mostly used with events. They tend to be pretty filthy, because even when standing on them, it appears to be very difficult for drunk (and high) people to aim in the little hole. Also, they fill up prety quickly. Traditionally, however, you take a leak against the church after getting thrown out of a bar at closing time. It's got so bad that police have started handing out tickets. No because we're upset about public indecency (it's Holland folks - there is no such thing), but to preserve the churches, who get damaged by the urine.

Public toilets are rare in the Netherlands. The most decent alternatives are the ones in the big warehouses, where you have to pay 50c or so to use a relatively clean toilet.

by Jasper on Apr 28, 2009 9:21 am

There already are public toilets, just ask the bums.

by MPC on Apr 28, 2009 9:21 am

We could use some here and there as a public service but I don't have much hope that they would be maintained well.

by Vik on Apr 28, 2009 9:45 am

Yes public bathroom facilities are a great idea if they are well maintained and kept clean.

yes- we dont want people urinating and defecating in our alleys in DC.

Especially our RESIDENTIAL alleys.

by w on Apr 28, 2009 9:50 am

Anybody know what happened to this program (video)?

It seems WMATA tested an exeloo restroom at one of its stations back in 2003.

by JTS on Apr 28, 2009 10:02 am

What about requiring certain new buildings to provide APTs facing the sidewalks? They could lay out a Public Restroom Master Plan, and specify locations where they are required for exterior renovations/ new contruction...

by Justin from ReadysetDC on Apr 28, 2009 10:07 am

Jasper - Yes, I do think that access to public restrooms would encourage people to commute more by public transit. If you drive and need a restroom and can't find one then you will most likely just get back in your car and drive to one...most likely at a fastfood restaurant. Also, if more restrooms were available in transit stations, this would give people more confidence they could find a restroom when nature calls.

Providing public restrooms is just one way to create more livable and walkable urban areas.

by Lynda on Apr 28, 2009 10:14 am

@ Lynda: Oh, I completely agree with you on the fact that public restrooms are a very good thing. I just think it's utter bogus to drag car drivers into the subject, as being in a very different situation than say bikers. They couldn't bike somewhere? And would they? I think not. Not everything related to drivers. Drivers aren't bad.

Furthermore, although grudgingly, metro is supposed to open their restrooms to the public. They don't like to, and they're filthy, but in DC - and that's what we're talking about here - metro riders do have an advantage over car drivers. You can walk up to every station manager and ask for access to the restroom. And they should let you in.

So, please let's not mix debates up. One thing is public restrooms, making a city more livable. True. Another thing is blaming everything on car drivers. That's just bogus.

by Jasper on Apr 28, 2009 10:24 am

Great post. The importance of restrooms is often neglected.

I was once in H&M near Metro Center and I had to go. So I asked where the restroom is. They told me there wasn't one. So I left. I wonder how much business is lost because of the lack of a restroom. Perhaps not enough business to justify opening the restroom to the public?

In DC I know where the restrooms are, but in an unfamiliar city this can be an issue.

by Omari on Apr 28, 2009 10:25 am

I'm sure that the H&M had a restroom (where do the employees go?), they just don't let customers use it. I think more shops should have restrooms available to their customers (as do department stores, big box stores, etc.) It would be appreciated and contributes to customer service.

by AMDCer on Apr 28, 2009 10:39 am

Are you nuts? DC has more easily accessible public-ish restrooms than just about any other city I can think of. Free museums (all with large and well-marked restrooms), hotels everywhere, and plenty of sandwich shops where a restroom is a $1 purchase away. I just can't get behind 'lack of public restrooms' as a negative on DC's quality of life/urban experience.

by Mary on Apr 28, 2009 10:40 am

Ha, Jasper. One look at that, um, urinal and I thought--let's put a bunch of those in Adams Morgan and Georgetown on Fri/Sat. nights. Of course, it solves only half the problem (unless the ladies have really good aim).

by ah on Apr 28, 2009 10:42 am

The version of the self-contained public toilet that WMATA was testing pre-9/11 wasn't ADA compliant. Post-9/11, self-contained toilets were deemed too much a "terrorist target".

There's a standard Port-o-let at Vienna Metro station that seems to work just fine. I don't know why they have to re-invent the wheel. Just put them at every station for god's sake. WTF is so hard about that?

by monkeyrotica on Apr 28, 2009 10:58 am

Thank you Lynda for focusing a whole post on this topic. I have championed this need in several previous posts' comments, often with others disagreeing there is a need, as we've seen already in the comments here.

The most aggregious omission is in the metro stations. Some train rides are very long. Why can't metro have pay toilets? Wouldn't that help offset the cost?

I have been turned down many times by private businesses-Even when I'm buying something! the worst was when my 8.5 month pregnant friend was with me and she was turned down. That was at an art supply store in geortgetown. After that i never shopped there again and tried to discourage my students from getting their supplies there too. So after my friend was turned down in that store I accompanied her to find the next place, again relying on the mercy of a private business. It's ridiculous and humiliating to be forced to beg for a toilet.

by Bianchi on Apr 28, 2009 11:06 am

@ ah: Here's the solution for the ladies:

http://www.p-mate.com/eng/intro.html

It looks scary, but once you get over the fear, they appear to really work.

by Jasper on Apr 28, 2009 11:06 am

Jasper, ..then what? Carry around an open container full of urine? That doesn't look like a reasonable solution to me.

by Bianchi on Apr 28, 2009 11:10 am

Bianchi -- maybe they could have those in dixie-cup-like holders at the pee-stands. Problem solved!

by ah on Apr 28, 2009 11:15 am

Lynda's photo of the restroom on the Mall, if I am not mistaken, is near the DC WWI Memorial. There is a much cleaner more modern brick and mortar restroom about 150 feet to the east near the WWII memorial. Ironic in that it's the one area where there are lots of good places to take a woodsie.

by Ward 1 Guy on Apr 28, 2009 11:30 am

Yep, the photo of the restroom on the Mall is by the WWI Memorial. When I was there about a week ago it was closed for repairs and I was directed to the restroom near the WWII Memorial. Believe me, the trees were tempting.

by Lynda on Apr 28, 2009 11:45 am

People are still going to use a bush and an alleyway, and I really doubt how much this kind of activity would be decreased. It would help in Adams Morgan and G'town perhaps, but I think this is better for the tourists and shoppers, where applicable, than for the hobos and bar hoppers. That crowd would absolutely ruin it for everyone else IMO.

I suggest we just have troughs like you see at college football stadiums and other large events and for #2, you're more than likely screwed but a permanent port-a-john type of set up.

by Vik on Apr 28, 2009 11:49 am

@ Bianchi: It's not a container. It's got a hole on the end. It's basically a paper version of the male part women don't have.

http://www.p-mate.com/eng/product.html

---

A little follow up on those grey things. They are a cheap pieces of crap. Trust me. If you want public restrooms, you're simply going to have to pay for them. Those grey things get pissed all over, they fill up within in a few hours or so, and they stink like hell. Especially on hot days, which Amsterdam has a lot less of than DC.

by Jasper on Apr 28, 2009 12:02 pm

Jasper, i get it. that makes much more sense. Its a channeling device.

by Bianchi on Apr 28, 2009 12:48 pm

Great post, Lynda. Yes, citizen advocacy is all important. Elected and appointed officials are reluctant to get involved with public restrooms. The supply won't be there until the demand is loud and clear.

PHLUSH works with citizen advocates in other cities. We'd love to see other PHLUSH groups form with people who believe that Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human and that public restrooms are part a vanishing commons that we need to work to restore.

Overall Greater Greater Washington has well informed writers with a good grasp of a range of issues across the hodgepodge of jurisdictions. Count me in as a regular reader.

by Carol McCreary on Apr 28, 2009 1:18 pm

Nice Post.

Need more articles like this one to bring more public attention to the need for public restrooms. As has been said before, business' and retaurants are relunctant to allow and actually refuse persons from using the restrooms, even the elderly and children, who 'gotto go'. Their "out of order" signs and 'employee only' signs are usually bogus and possibly illegal, but they put them up anyway. Others have NEEDS to go also. MORE PUBLIC RESTROOMS

by Angell on Apr 28, 2009 8:59 pm

@ Angell: I can see why restaurants are reluctant to not let non-customers use their restrooms. I can not see why a city would not want to comfort its citizens and tourists.

by Jasper on Apr 28, 2009 9:51 pm

There's an Automatic Public Toilet in the Huntington Metro stop, and it's not hidden like the rest of Metro's restrooms. I didn't know how it worked and found it utterly terrifying at first. I was wondering "why are the walls sopping wet???" and then it told me to get out or else the door would open, which is a lot of pressure, honestly. But I'm all for them because asking the metro guy to unlock the restroom is even more uncomfortable.

by Tim on Apr 28, 2009 11:00 pm

The "American Portrait Museum"? That would be the National Portrait Gallery, for any out-of-towners who might try to find it on a map.

by Mike on Apr 29, 2009 7:43 am

I've corrected the museum name.

by David Alpert on Apr 29, 2009 8:11 am

If you want to get real technical, it's the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, as it houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as the National Portrait Gallery. I wouldn't change it again though, as "National Portrait Gallery" would be more recognizable.

Must be the same naming committee that chooses Metro station names....

by Tim K on Apr 29, 2009 8:17 am

Tim -- sounds more like a stadium-naming committee.

by ah on Apr 29, 2009 9:29 am

Lynda, great post! This is yet another component of a livable city that I haven't really thought about, but it makes sense. Why shouldn't restrooms be part of the public infrastructure, just like street lights and mass transit? Makes me also think about the need for more water fountains. Right now, we're encouraging use of plastic bottles by not offering more fountains. Let's address these basic biological needs!

by Kesh L on Apr 29, 2009 11:42 am

I'm a cofounder of the American Restroom Assoc. Great report of the 'gotta go' problems people face.

There's also a less discussed 'hand sanitation' problem that's 'swine flu' relavant. We all being told to wash our hands before eating. Many small restaurant have single toilet bathrooms [ 1 for men - 1 for women ] where the door to the room is locked by a current user. If someone really has 'to go' they will 'queue' but if they just needed to wash thier hands they are less likely to wait. It's also a potty parity issue, since women are more likely to be care givers. When a parent heads into one of these 'lock the door' bathrooms with 2 kids and a baby, other women can be locked out for quite a long time.

by Robert Brubaker on Apr 29, 2009 2:15 pm