Mitchell Report

From pay toilets to high-tech pods—two eras of public convenience.

This has been on my mind lately. I was listening to the Planet Money Podcast and caught an episode about why it’s so hard to find a public toilet. It made me think of London. I’ve never been, but I watch a YouTube channel called London City Walks, which often films around Horse Guards Parade. The host strolls through the area, narrates what he sees, and points out that this busy tourist spot barely has any public toilets, except a few in the Underground.

I never gave it much thought here in the US, except when I go out. I usually try not to use public restrooms because they’re often dirty. Even at Disney, where attendants work almost full time, the bathrooms still get overcrowded, though you can sometimes find a quieter one that stays clean and stocked.

Going to shopping malls, restaurants, or in rare cases gas stations, I hate using the bathrooms. They’re usually in rough shape. That’s what came to mind while listening to this episode. It wasn’t life-changing or anything, but it was a nice break from all the politics and tariff talk. I actually learned a lot about why we don’t have pay toilets anymore and why they disappeared.

In Europe and Japan they have pay toilets that are really impressive. Some of them are self-cleaning units you can find almost anywhere. When no one’s inside they’re transparent, but once you enter and pay, the glass turns opaque for privacy. When you leave, the entire space is automatically disinfected and reset for the next person. I thought to myself, “In some places I'd actually use that!” So why doesn't London do this? It seems like a win-win.

If you get a chance, check out the Planet Money episode. It’s about 24 minutes long and worth a listen. I didn’t link to the self-cleaning toilets because I honestly can’t remember where I first watched or heard about them, but I know they’re common in Japan and parts of Europe. It was just interesting to learn why pay toilets went away here and how they continue to exist in other parts of the world.

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