SEATTLE — The City of Seattle unveiled four new free public restrooms in Pioneer Square and the stadium district on Friday as part of a one-year pilot program with private company Throne Labs.
The initiative aims to address sanitation issues in public spaces and make the area more welcoming.
The four new restrooms will be placed:
- 2nd Ave S and S Washington St
- 1st Ave S and S Charles St outside of Lumen Field.
The temporary restrooms are designed to be movable.
To enter the restroom, you can scan a QR code or send a text and the door will automatically open.
If you don’t have a phone, flag down a Downtown ambassador for help. The company is working to roll out more options for people without phones soon.
The city will spend a total of $465,000 for the four facilities, including cleaning and maintenance costs.
“Some people see $465,000 for a year for four toilets, it sounds like a lot of money. Can you comment on that?” KIRO 7’s Madeline Ottilie asked Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.
“If you look at how much money the city does already spend addressing sanitation issues that arise because we don’t have toilets, this is actually, I think, a pretty cost-effective way to deal with the issue,” Wilson said.
The bathrooms will be managed by a human cleaning crew who will clean the stalls as needed, or roughly after every 11 times they’re used.
KIRO 7 also asked the company how data is managed since people use their phones to gain access.
A representative told us that every entry is linked to an anonymous user ID, which is created for accountability. Misuse results in a warning and repeat offenses can lead to restricted access.
Users can also appeal restrictions by contacting the company’s support team.
Executive Director Lisa Howard for the Alliance for Pioneer Square highlighted the impact of insufficient public restrooms on community engagement.
“Some people might go as far as avoiding the area, right?” she said. “You might not choose to go out because there’s not a reliable place to go to the bathroom.”
Howard further stressed the importance of these facilities for public well-being.
“Being able to provide a restroom and make sure that people aren’t just, you know, sneaking into an alley or trying to run around finding a place holding it, it’s a really important thing for the city,” she added.
To prevent past issues of drug use and crime associated with public restrooms, the new stalls are equipped with a 10-minute timer. A warning is given before the door automatically opens when the time limit is reached.
KIRO 7 asked Wilson if the program could expand if leaders view it as successful.
“I would love for every light rail station and transit hub in the city to have an accessible public restroom within a block,” Wilson said. “I think that’s a great goal to work toward, and so I and my team are going to be watching the success of this pilot closely, and then as we work through our budget process, because, as you might know, we also have a very large budget deficit to contend with, so we don’t have a ton of money to throw around right now, but that is definitely a priority for me as we move forward in the next few years to figure out how we can expand public restroom access throughout the city.”
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