Since St. Louis doesn’t have the money to be building a lot of restrooms right now, how about something like this as a (gender-preferential, but still better than nothing) solution?

Why is it only a particular problem in elevators? What about on staircases (and station premises) where majority of your passengers climb up and down? Grand station, Union station, Forest Park station? A free public restroom at Grand station is a good place to start…

– Pay restrooms are hilarious at best. Paying two dollars to ride to the station so that they can pee for a dollar. Public restrooms should be accessible and “affordable”.

– Public education is not going to work either. Who do you think is going to attend?

>>> “Will everyone listen? No. But we hope that many will.”

That “many” that you are talking about are people who are already great transit riders.

I do not want to ignore the great effort and resources put into this campaign but this is NOT going to work. You should think about other options. This blog is a great platform for getting feedback and ideas and I hope someone will come up with a solution.

Maybe. But I have a hard time believing that someone who urinates in public is not mentally unstable or drunk. In either case, they aren’t going to heed the signs. All you can really do is clean up after them. I pity the high school dropout who falls into that job.

Quick, you really have to go and you are at the Grand Metrolink station waiting to xfer to your bus. You have 15 minutes before the bus comes, and 20 minutes until your stop, and a 20 minute walk home after that. Where do you pee?

For better or worse Metro elevators tend to be places in the city you can duck into for a little privacy. (even though as mentioned, they really only have the appearance of privacy)

*sigh* how do we even have to have discussions prioritizing lighted stops or public bathrooms when there always seems to be money for wider highways or new military excursions. (And yes, I realize the DoD budget doesn’t take away from any city agency budget, no need to be pedantic). In my ideal world Metro has money to expand service, fix buses, have restrooms, lights, clean and warm shelters, bike racks….

In the meantime, I expect that the public urination signs won’t make much difference. When you gotta go, you gotta go. More aggressive ticketing and policing of elevators probably would help, but then again you’re just cracking down on the symptom when the cause is fairly obvious.

Maybe plant large and strategically placed bushes around most stations?

It comes down to priorities. Right now, focus is on restoring service. We want to ask the question, “How do you want us to spend your money?” In the first round of our public workshops, restrooms were the least preferred amenity compared to transit center, security and lighting, and shelters and seating.

It doesn’t mean that restroom are off the radar. It just means we have to prioritize, and public feedback is important.

Actually, the maintenance crews and dispatch that most closely deal with this problem find people from all walks of life engaging in this ahem, destructive behavior. I imagine that is true among all transit agencies and other public facilities.

In the San Francisco area, the BART transit agency shut down restrooms in all underground SF stations back after 9/11 for “security reasons” and hasn’t managed to address these unspecified “security concerns” in the 9 years since then. Other transit agencies, like say, New York City, manage to somehow keep their restrooms open. It’s clear that this is just a sham to save money at the expense of passengers who can face 1+ hour commutes in peak hours (my record is 1:45 due to a delay).

Signs will not fix the problem. Pay toilets will not fix the problem. These people have no money. That’s just a futile band-aid on the ultimate solution of better health and human services for the homeless and mentally disabled.

[Editor's Note: Comment was modified to remove profanity.]

Personally, I don’t buy the “there is no where else to go” explanation. As a transit rider, there have been many times where the “urge” has come upon me as I am riding. Never have I considered urinating on public property nor on my neighbors lawns when I have to walk from the stop to my home. I simply hold it.

The issue comes back to safety and expense and education. Safety will forever be a concern with public restrooms. There is no easy answer there. The expense for installing bathrooms is a one time deal. It is the operating/maintenance expense that is ongoing. Do riders want to see Metro spending their money to support restrooms? Lastly, Metro does have to engage in some kind of public education effort. I do not think Metro is treating anyone like a child. It may be shocking, but some people just don’t know. Metro cannot ultimately change anyone’s behavior. But, for example, there are numerous signs within MetroLink trains put there by health care advertisers encouraging readers to take some kind of health action or to raise awareness. To some people those healthcare concerns seem like a no-brainer, but for others, it may be the first time the thought ever entered their head. Are the Metro ads any different?

Pay restrooms is an interesting option. One consideration though is safety. How do we keep these restrooms safe for patrons, especially later at night?