Overdue Idea: Public Washroom Database

THE ISSUE: Christmas shopping time, and you’re determined to get it all done in one go. You trudge down the main drag, balancing your latte with a growing collection of parcels. You find a coffee mug for grandma, and slippers for mom. You need to hit three more places to get everything done and relieve yourself of the need to do this again, when… you realize your latte has presented you with another need.

You scan the street for the little stick figures that signify a public washroom. But this isn’t Europe, so public washrooms don’t exist. You’re nowhere near a department store, and there’s no Starbucks in your line of sight. You see office buildings, which surely have facilities, but you’re not up to just barging into random elevators hoping for the best.

You’re out of options, and are starting to think you may need to make use of grandma’s coffee mug.

THE VICTIMS: Public toilets have been around since ancient Rome, but for whatever reason, we’ve forgotten how to do it, at least in Canada. Maybe there isn’t enough demand to warrant a pay system of public restrooms. Or perhaps we’re expected to migrate our shopping to malls, where there’s always a food court nearby.

For those with iron bladders, it’s all academic. But the rest of us know the grief of feeling the need coming on with no idea where to go.

But the fact is there ARE facilities all around us. Clean, unguarded lavatories with sparkling counters and moisturizing soap. They’re hiding in offices, hotels, schools, and restaurants. Stop a bike courier the next time you see one and ask about nearby washrooms. He’ll be able to rattle off a handful.

It’s finding them for the rest of us that’s the trick.

THE FIX: The Public Washroom Database would be the must-have for the bladder-challenged urban dweller. When in need, a quick click of the app would identify the nearest available washroom and give immediate directions. I’m thinking a big glowing arrow for eyes that are glazing over in desperation. It might be as easy as pointing you around the corner to the train station, or it might guide you through the service entrance of a swanky hotel.

Information about accessibility, baby-changing, and ratings for cleanliness would be included.

Of course, this kind of thing is only as good as the information on it, so it would require users to contribute info. So if you’re visiting your lawyer and you find an unlocked washroom off a publicly-accessible hallway, you add that in, and it goes on the database. Or maybe you stumble upon a particularly elegant lavatory in a government building; you’d put that in with a star beside it.

And when the law office gets wise and puts a key code on the door, you just go to the next one on the list.

When it really gets off the ground, it could include a trip planner where you input your expected route for the day and it gives you options along the way ahead of time.

Maybe a European-style public washroom network is unattainable, but we can certainly give the public some options.