Thanks to DC’s new toilet law, it’s going to be easier to find a place to go

It’s really difficult to find a public bathroom in DC, and advocates say installing more of them would help pregnant people, tourists, the elderly, people experiencing homelessness, and many others. After years of encouragement from activists, the DC Council passed a public bathroom bill in 2018, and it became law in April 2019. So when will we see these new restrooms?

The Public Restroom Facilities Installation & Promotion Act of 2018 sets up two pilot programs: the installation of two public restrooms, and an incentive program for local businesses to open their facilities to the public. Money for the pilots is included in the 2020 budget. The People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC) Downtown DC Public Restroom Initiative spearheaded the adoption of the restroom law, with support from GGWash last year.

The District expects to have two new public restrooms installed by April 2021. First, the mayor’s office needs to establish a working group with representatives from DC government agencies, local nonprofits, and an urban planner to recommend what type of restroom facility is best suited for the pilot program, and to identify where they should go.

The pilot business incentive program may come sooner. The mayor’s office plans to select a neighborhood to carry out the program on a trial basis by October 2020. While it’s too early to detail exactly how this program will work, it could operate like the Community Toilet Scheme in London, UK.

In London, participating bars, cafés, and restaurants display placards outside their businesses to advertise their restrooms as available for public use. In exchange, these businesses receive small financial incentives from the city government to help them with upkeep. DC’s Chief Financial Officer estimates that participating businesses will receive up to $2,000 per year.

The mayor’s office directed my public bathroom questions to Councilmember Mary Cheh, the chairperson for the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this law. Cheh did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but we’ll update the article if she does.

Advocates scoured DC to find bathrooms

In 2015, some PFFC members decided to walk around the District to prove just how difficult it was to find a restroom. They visited downtown, Columbia Heights, the K Street Corridor, in and around Dupont Circle, and in Georgetown and Gallery Place, popping into restaurants, bars, and cafés. In total, they visited 85 private establishments.

When they repeated their visits in 2016, the found discrimination agains individuals who have the appearance of being homeless.

Of the 85 private facilities they visited in 2015, only 43 allowed their volunteers in to use their restrooms. When they repeated the study in 2017, the number of businesses that allowed them to use the bathroom dwindled to 11. They also found that, off the Mall, there are only five public restrooms open during the day in downtown DC, most with limited hours.

“It wasn’t fancy research” but it is a helpful way of getting a quick information on a topic, Marcy Bernbaum, Mentor & Advisor to PFFC’s Downtown DC Public Restroom Initiative, explained. “It’s what’s called rapid appraisal.” Bernbaum was among those who tested how easy it was to find bathrooms, and has been organizing advocacy efforts for the PFFC’s restroom initiative since its inception.

Depending on where you are, finding a public restroom in DC can be next to impossible, Bernbaum and others with the PFFC explained to businesses, nonprofits, and the DC government. The group spent the following years studying public bathroom models used in the US and beyond, and last year, their efforts came to fruition.

Everybody’s got to go sooner or later

For people like George Olivar, one of the earliest PFFC restroom advocates, his involvement has always been personal. Olivar, who is originally from Mexico, traveled the world living in Buddhist monasteries practicing his faith. In 2014, he decided to move to DC from Australia, where he was living at the time, in order to be closer to the Library of Congress.

He had planned to immerse himself in books pertaining to his faith. Things, however, did not turn out the way he had planned.

“I found myself caught up in a thing called homeless,” Olivar said, using the English word “homeless” instead of the Spanish phrase “sin hogar.” During his interview, which was conducted in Spanish, Olivar said, “I know how difficult it is to live on the streets.”

Unable to afford the rent to pay for an apartment, Olivar soon learned that it was nearly impossible to find a restroom open to public use at night. Followup research from PFFC confirmed that DC only two public restrooms open 24/7, and they are in locations that are hard to get to at night. Olivar was homeless for three years, and while he now has an apartment, his advocacy for bathroom access continues.

Janet Sharp, who was also involved with PFFC’s advocacy outreach and research, says the problem affects more than those experiencing homelessness. Sharp says that part of getting older includes making more frequent trips to the restroom. “As a senior citizen my bladder doesn’t hold like it used to,” Sharp explained.

She said that she experienced homelessness briefly in the 80s, and remembers how difficult it was at the time for her to find a restroom: “It was just hard to be aware of where to go to the bathroom.”

Sharp said lack of public restroom access affects everyone—tourists, residents, pregnant people and those with young children, housed and unhoused alike. “Everybody has to go sooner or later,” she added.

The United Nations says access to clean water and sanitation is a basic human right, and public restrooms could make this accessible for people in DC. As Bernbaum wrote in a previous post for GGWash, restroom access is not a problem for many people living cities in Asia and Europe, where facilities open to the public are widely available.

Advocates hope that as the new restroom law takes effect, and when the city moves beyond pilots, people all over the city will have an easier time finding a place to go.