Maybe they should have an "electric ear" to hear poo sounds so that the door won't open on people doing the deed. Or, a weight sensor under the water that will sense logs, and not open automatically. It would still open on people doing things other than bathroom duties. (because who takes 10 minutes to pee? and vomit WOULD trigger the weight sensor if you had to barf in a public bathroom)

Is that a good idea?

Poop on!

-Poopgirl

The first thing that struck me was the timed automation. Maybe instead they should have a heat or motion sensor that sprays down the stall after the occupant opens and leaves it. Surely it wouldn't be all that hard to implement. If someone is willing to pay for such an elaborate system, surely it wouldn't cust much more to add sensors in place of a timer.

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I'm so good at clogging up toilets, I can make mine back up when there's nothing in it.

The whole system is a boondoggle. I am sure that some city council member is getting kick backs for it. Public urinals are a good idea, but the poop thing has to have an attendant. I would assume that said attendent would be highly paid. I can only imagine the maintenence costs on a privy that cleans itself. The drain must get clogged with spooge, broken needles, and dropped coins; all the time.
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Sir SamDamnit!
The Emir of Crapistan
Join The Poop Reporter's Lounge

Okay, if I used one of those bathrooms, I would be exposed to the world and then doused in blue cleaning fluid before I finished wiping. I wonder about some engineers. Do they actually ever come out of their drawing rooms to experience real life? It poses some real questions with me.

1. What is you have constipation? That can take well over ten minutes to pass.

2. What if you are a girl on her period? It can be messy and take a while to clean up (especially if you jumped, farted, or sneezed after sitting for too long) plus there is time to change a pad or tampon AND go to the bathroom. Sometimes this takes long if you are cramped up.

3. What if you have an infant or small child? Sometimes it takes a while to get them to use the can, or there is a mess to clean up, or you have to go and try to hold the kid at the same time.

4. What if you have that really crampy diarrhea that doesn't pass easily? This can take up to half an hour if you are in extreme pain. Also, there may be a continuous stream of butt pee coming out for much longer a time period than ten minutes.

5. What if you are disabled? Someone who has a hard time maneuvering, whether from crutches or a wheelchair, may not be finished in under ten minutes.

6. What if yours is a million wiper? No more said.

7. What if you are pregnant? Moving around in certain bathroom stalls is difficult, as is going to the bathroom, when you can't see anything below your enormous stomach bulge. Plus, you are often constipated, have gas, and have a Pacific Ocean's worth of pee to express.

The only good thing I can see about this invention is that it will cure those long lines at the ladies' room, which are usually perpetuated by a certain type of menopausal women, who seem to have a designated use time of twenty plus minutes in the stall. (Usually when one of more of us has crampy diarrhea.) I have been tempted a few times just to kick the door open and go between her legs.

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I was a category five! Category five, I tell you! Get it right or I'll be back to PROVE IT!!!!- Katrina

Damn TSV, you put a lot of thought in this. About this system though, what exacly would open? The stall door in the restroom? If that's the case, you wouldn't be exposed to the whole world, just whoever was waiting outside your stall.

If we're talking porta potty type devices, well then, you're shit out of luck.

However, I don't think I've ever seen porta-potty public toilets just kicking it around here. Nor in Seattle in the many times I've been up there. Hmmm.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

I feel really torn on this one. I LIVE near Seattle, and I've seen these things. I know where three of them are. So, in Pioneer Square? People are going to shoot up and fuck in there, constantly. Pioneer Square is rife with homeless, but more often the decrepit, insane, addicted etc. Most of the nicer homeless head uptown toward shelters (not that we have nearly enough of those!) Broadway, where another is located, also has homeless, drug and prostitution problems. I've walked by the Broadway one many times, and it's ALWAYS "occupied", often for far longer than 10 mins, which leads me to believe that some hoodlum, likely not homeless at all, stepped in and trashed it inside. Ruined it for the rest of us. I, too, like the idea of motion sensors for these, but they would still at times end up being places to shoot up, smoke crack, work your john, whack off, and what have you - I don't see a way to prevent these adequately. I do hope we keep the toilets, though. As for the rapid increase of shitting on the street (the Seattle Times named exact reported numbers for the 2 years before and after installation, and numbers more than doubled after, from 2400 to well over 4000!!) I have no clue, though I have doubts as to its being about rebellion against these toilets. In my opinion, the homeless population may simply be going up, and as shelters aren't growing much, there aren't many choices when the local Subway won't let the scruffy, smelly guy (who really just wants to shit) use their toilet because of the other scruffy, smelly guys who look so similar (and want to shoot up)

If the city officials had to use them, we'd see an answer immediately.

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.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

Amen daph, amen.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

I showed this article to my friend, and she said that Seattle officials should have the toilets reprogrammed to 15 minutes, and see if that helps the problem.

Damn it. Why didn't I think of that?

I agree, 10 minutes is usually not enough time. I like the weight sensor idea. Maybe they could combine that with a light sensor under the water that could tell if the actual toilet was "occupied" or just the bathroom.

Seattle also should just be tougher on its homeless population. Most other cities are a lot more strict on panhandling laws, squatting laws, etc.

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An apple a day keeps the ExLax away!

NIL, "exposed to the world"= sarcasm.

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I was a category five! Category five, I tell you! Get it right or I'll be back to PROVE IT!!!!- Katrina

Ah, well then, that settles that.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

Not to make light of this, but it really does sound like a scene from a bad Slyvester Stallone sci-fi movie in which some disembodied, computerized voice intones after you've been in some robo-public bathroom facility for a while: "You have exactly thirty seconds to hosedown. Please pull up your pants and vacate the premises."

Followed by a countdown at the ten-second mark. And we all thought HAL was a bad guy in 2001!

Wow, but wouldn't THAT make for some great poop stories!

"...and the timer started counting down, and the siren was whooping, 'Please wipe and evacuate! Please wipe and evacuate!', and there was no more toilet paper, so I was scrambling to wipe with a butt-gasket, when the door flew open..."

Where exactly are these? I'm going to be in Seattle later this week, I might stop by one of them if I have the chance.

UPDATE:

The city of Los Angeles has ordered 8 new Robo-Toilets to be installed in the downtown area, most of them within the area called Skid Row. They are the self-same type as in Seattle, with 20-minute time limit, servicing alerts, and a maintenance contract for the units to be checked 4 times daily for paper and disinfectant.

At $250,000 EACH the city will NEVER, EVER make their money back with the 25 cent fee for each use. The toilets are being subsidized by the revenue from bus panel advertising, which opponents say is income that should be going into the city's coffers, so the taxpayers are still paying for the toilets.

Some neighborhoods object to the facilities being placed on public sidewalks. If results are similar to that in Seattle, where there seems to be MORE poop and pee on the streets and NOT in the robo-toilets, the objecting neighborhoods could have a point.

The beauracracy through which each toilet must wade before being installed is long and complicated, as the site must have sufficient sidewalk width as well as access to both sewer and phone lines. It's an arduous process.

Nevertheless, 8 units are being installed currently, and 8 more are slated for the rest of the city next summer. Proponents argue that Europe has done very well with the auto-potties.

Maybe the problem is that homeless people can't afford to travel to Europe to experience Continental Pooping.