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D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

washingtonian.com

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Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#91

Post by borski »

decafninja wrote: post #41
ookblah wrote: post #20

US suffers from an additional culture problem that doesn't allow us to have nice public things. Every public restroom in NYC I can think of outside of Bryant Park ends up turning into a shithole, literally.

What keeps the Bryant Park restrooms clean? What's different about it? I've never actually used it. The Port Authority bus terminal bathrooms recently had a full renovation. It was nice enough for a little while, but it didn't take long for it to become a shithole. The money spent to clean it up and renovate it turned to shit.

Usually the people cleaning it. Just done more often and with better effect. Also Bryant Park tends to be a bit nicer and upscale, population-wise.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#92

Post by belorn »

MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #7
teddyh wrote: post #3

> User IDs are part of Throne’s accountability system: After you use a restroom, you’re asked to rate its cleanliness. Meanwhile, each user gets a “Throne score,” similar to Uber, and repeat offenders who abuse the restroom will be blocked. Weight sensors also track if someone’s been in the bathroom too long. “Very few people create issues in [public] bathrooms, don’t respect that amenity, and then ruin it for the ma…

Seriously though, accountability is the missing thing. If getting banned for consistently making a mess is what it takes to get public bathrooms back, then so be it. There's no excuse for the shit I've seen. I'm tired of being denied amenities because of other peoples' degenerate behaviour.

The system could hook into the medical records if we wanted to hear the excuses. The stereotype of old people going to the bathroom with a news paper exist for reasons, and it not because the toilet is such a soft chair to sit for 15-30 minutes. The toilet could include sensors for how soft or hard the stool is, and detect bacteria, in which case it could just add it to the users profile.

Sticky and stinky urine, in combination with frequent needs are three major symptoms for a plethora of problems. Protein, from blood and mucus in either stool or urine are also both a big flag and they are very sticky to surfaces. Really sticky, and really stinky.

Of course there is other reasons like drugs and alcohol. The restroom could detect those too and put it on the users permanent record.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#93

Post by borski »

DubiousPusher wrote: post #58
graeme wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cleaning on a daily basis does not make a bathroom sanitary. And the worse your issues the more frequent the cleaning needs to be. When I worked in a gas station we cleaned on the hour and signed for it and this was in a place where people were generally decent about not making a mess.

Then let's start with that.

That costs a lot more money.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#94

Post by deltasevennine »

slumpt_ wrote: post #77
baron816 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good summary for what it’s like to live in SF. There are lots of people around who are completely immune from any accountability and thus treat the whole city as a literal public toilet (and land fill).

Such is the consequence of a housing crisis and the downstream homelessness, despair, and of course mental illness. Don't give someone a roof and a toilet and they may just find any old place to go!

Nah even the dog walkers here don't give a shit. The dogs piss and shit all over the entire city and the rich SF owners don't care.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#95

Post by borski »

mxwsn wrote: post #4

From listening to a podcast or two, my impression is that the Public Bathroom Problem is an economic one. There were many paid public bathrooms in the past in the US, but they were deemed sexist and banned. Then cities didn't want to foot the bill, so they closed many of them. What's this startups' business model?

What I’m really interested in is why they were deemed sexist; in Europe, which I just came back from visiting, paid toilets were everywhere and they were not usually particularly clean.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#97

Post by borski »

hoten wrote: post #63
ryukafalz wrote: post #17

> Weight sensors also track if someone’s been in the bathroom too long. As someone with IBS and a few other related things this sounds like it has the potential to be incredibly annoying and frustrating.

Don't worry! Upload a doctor's note, and you'll get a free upgrade to the Pro Pooer tier and get uncapped bathroom time.

For just a second I thought you were Throne support.

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#99

Post by eurasiantiger »

belorn wrote: post #92
MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously though, accountability is the missing thing. If getting banned for consistently making a mess is what it takes to get public bathrooms back, then so be it. There's no excuse for the shit I've seen. I'm tired of being denied amenities because of other peoples' degenerate behaviour.

The system could hook into the medical records if we wanted to hear the excuses. The stereotype of old people going to the bathroom with a news paper exist for reasons, and it not because the toilet is such a soft chair to sit for 15-30 minutes. The toilet could include sensors for how soft or hard the stool is, and detect bacteria, in which case it could just add it to the users profile. Sticky and stinky urine, in…

Have you noticed yourself sliding into fascist type thinking?

Re: D.C.-area startup wants to solve the public bathroom problem

#100

Post by eurasiantiger »

derefr wrote: post #73
teddyh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who makes a mess? People who don’t care, or who hate other people. How do we, as a society, make less of those? By investing in social programs, getting people out of poverty and drugs, civic education. Increasing the minimum wage. Eliminating wage theft. UBI. Will any of these work? I don’t know. But this is the way. Not stricter and stricter gatekeeping.

People who have all the privileges in the world still do horrible things to bathrooms. Ask any janitor working in a corporate office building. People who have nothing have no reason to care what others think; but people who have everything, and who never experience consequences for what they do, can be just as detached. Also, if you think about it, this service is fundamentally not meant to serve (or rather, avoid se…

”Who even has a smartphone with an active data plan? Not homeless people”

You might be surprised.

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