New public toilets could be in pipeline
A citywide expansion of the popular Pit Stop public toilet program could come next year. And the news came just in time for World Toilet Day on Thursday.
Toilet usage has more than doubled since the pilot program’s started last year, and residents are calling for more bathrooms in San Francisco’s smelliest neighborhoods, including SoMa and the Tenderloin.
City officials discussed the expansion earlier this week at the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee.
The pilot program includes nine staffed public toilets in the Mission, Tenderloin, SoMa and Mid-Market. Five of the locations are portable toilets open five days a week for six hours.
The stalls are hauled in and out on trucks daily. The other locations are permanent JCDecaux toilets with longer hours — they are staffed for 12 hours every day.
In its first six months, the program has recorded a 60 percent reduction in steam-cleaning requests in the Tenderloin and the disposal of hundreds of syringes, including 275 in the first 14 weeks. It has also saved the city 2,640 gallons of water a month.
“This is one of the few programs that gets unanimously positive feedback,” said Supervisor Jane Kim, who has been pushing for the program’s expansion. “The few criticisms are that the hours are too short. At the minimum, by July of next year, I would like to see a new Pit Stop in every district.”
The public toilets cost about $120,000 each to staff and maintain. But the figure does not include what the city then saves as steam-cleaning requests drop, Kim said.
“It’s very economical,” she said. “There are some ways to make the program cheaper, like we did with the JCDecaux restrooms in U.N. Plaza. The other option is to look at other public restrooms, like in fire stations, and see if we can provide additional maintenance and security.”
SoMa would be the center of the expansion plan, but some, such as Supervisor Malia Cohen, want to see locations in areas like Mendell Plaza in the Bayview. The program’s hours could also be extended. Of the 274 public restrooms in San Francisco, only 78 are open to the public after midnight, according to a report from the city controller’s office.
The Board of Supervisors will likely discuss a supplemental budget to create new Pit Stop locations in January.
“Overall, this has been a great program for the city,” Kim said. “It’s a clean and safe place for people to use. No one should have to step over human feces in the street or have to use the bathroom in the street.”
— Lizzie Johnson Push for jail: Mayor Ed Lee is pushing ahead on building a new jail.
His administration has introduced a legislative package at the Board of Supervisors to jump-start the process.
The legislation asks the board to accept an $80 million state grant, authorize the issuance of $215 million in city debt to pay for the facility and appropriate $1.5 million to pay for new mental-health beds at San Francisco General Hospital.
If the board passes the legislation, it will commit the city to replacing the existing jail at 850 Bryant St., which is seismically unsafe.
“It’s a moral issue,” said City Administrator Naomi Kelly. “The Hall of Justice is seismically deficient. This is an outdated facility.”
But opponents, including District Attorney George Gascón, say the money could be better used to expand mental health services and other programs to help keep people out of jail. Board of Supervisors President London Breed, whose vote will be critical, has also expressed reservations because of the project’s high price tag.
— Emily Green