MBTA to clean soiled elevators
New program will use urine detection sensors
Sometimes you just can’t hold it.
The MBTA claims its elevator ride time is “excellent,” but is still experiencing a pungent problem: Riders peeing inside lifts, in lieu of waiting for a bathroom.
“In general, our elevator uptime is excellent, but we still receive a lot of complaints that are filed about riders’ comfort level in using them, and a pretty big contributing factor to that is people sometimes use elevators as restrooms,” said Meghan Collins, MBTA program/projects manager, accessible tech.
To tackle this problem, Collins said the T plans to pilot a new program in mid- August, which will consist of placing urine detection sensors in four downtown elevators: Chinatown, Broadway, Charles MGH and North Station.
The elevators were selected based on how often people were peeing in the cabs, different cab sizes, and the different environments they were located in, to see how well the sensors work. For example, the detection may be different in elevators in enclosed spaces versus those that are exposed to the street level and outside air, Collins said.
“The data will be collected from the sensors, transit ambassadors and cleaners to measure the effectiveness of the sensor,” she said. “Right now, it really only detects urine, and so that’s what we’re going to be focusing on right now.”
After the pilot’s launch, the T will collect data for about three months until mid- November, and will decided whether to implement the program by the end of the year.
The pilot was announced during a biannual meeting where the MBTA gave updates on plans to make the system more accessible for people with disabilities.
The sensors are affixed to the ceiling of an elevator, and have an attached fan, which allows the device to suck in the air and “basically smell what is present,” Collins said.
They are connected to a mobile device, so when urine is detected, transit ambassadors get a notification, and are able to dispatch a cleaning crew to handle the mess, she said.
“We want to make sure that our riders feel comfortable riding in elevators, and that in some cases, when people do use the elevator as a restroom, it can damage the elevator and it can also make it unsanitary,” Collins said. “These can also present some safety risks and it can also render it unusable, so we want to really see if this can work out for us.”