Comments on: Toilet Usability – 6 Reasons Why the new NYC Public Toilets are Doomed

By: The user experience of a toilet on South West Trains - I draw boxes

The user experience of a toilet on South West Trains - I draw boxes — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:47:40 +0000

[...] I found Anders Ramsay’s article on New York City public toilet design. These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web [...]

By: StationStops.com

StationStops.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:55:55 +0000

Lol I wrote this 2000-word manifesto about NYC Restrooms yesterday on StationStops and came to many of the same conclusions you did.

http://www.stationstops.com/2008/03/25/nyc-public-restrooms-the-straight-poop-on-public-restrooms-in-new-york-city-and-beyond/

Coincidentally, yesterday the Seattle Times reported how their 3+ year APT (Automated Public Toilet) program had been a failure, even though similar toilets are very successful in Europe.

However, Seattle’s program did not charge a fee for the toilet. Even a token fee of $.25 might prevent enough abuse to make it successful.

Seattle’s program was also targeted geographically to provide service to the homeless as well as tourists, so they were in some rather sketchy areas to begin with I think.

By: Anders

Anders — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:25:53 +0000

@3Y – the french squatter concept isn’t that bad at all – in fact, I believe there are public restrooms in Japan and other parts of Asia that have these kinds of public restrooms. Very minimalist design indeed – if Google designed a toilet, that would have to be it :)

By: Anders

Anders — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:20:39 +0000

Eric – point well taken. Yes, there clearly is the homeless factor to contend with (and possibly even more so in NYC than some European cities.) And I’ll concede that I time limit might be a good solution for that. But I still 15 minutes is too short – especially for someone who is disabled – the potential for public humiliation is just too great.

And as far as “borrowing” the toilet from a homeless person goes (aside from that it seems perfect fodder for a SNL skit about these toilets), I think a homeless person in Manhattan would try to rent the toilet out to you rather than just let you borrow it: Manhattan Studio – very short term lease – available for immediate occupancy – cheap!

By: 3Y

3Y — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:10:32 +0000

I think the best solution for a public toilet is the “french toilet”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet

Yes it is not that comfortable. But there is no plastic seat someone could demolish and you even get not in “contact” with the toilet at all. And because you can not stand/sit there for longer than a few minutes, there is a natural time limit for you business.

For disabled persons this is not a solution. Probably they could build special toilets for disabled persons. If I had to choose (as a not disabled person) I would choose the french one.

By: Eric Reiss

Eric Reiss — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:36:30 +0000

In many cities, the homeless have taken over these toilets as shelters. Hence, without the automatic opening, a homeless person can enjoy peace and quite for as long as they want for virtually no money. This also ties in with the 8 to 8 limitation, although implementing both limitations does seem somewhat redundant.

I know this alternative kind of “squatting” has been a problem in Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, and Stockholm – and all have implemented time limitations. In fact, in Budapest, before the limits were put into effect, I once (with the help of a friendly interpreter) had to bribe a homeless woman to let me “borrow” her toilet. A completely surreal experience, I assure you.