The Public Restroom Facilities Installation & Promotion Act of 2018 passed its first reading unanimously during a D.C. Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Dec. 4. As Street Sense Media previously reported, the bill would simultaneously establish two pilot programs to increase restroom access in the District and create a task force to research the restroom access needs and solutions. A final vote is anticipated for Dec. 18.
One of the pilot programs would test construction of free-standing restrooms in two locations chosen by the Bowser administration. The other would evaluate an incentive program to have businesses open their restrooms to the public in a single business improvement district, also selected by the mayor.
The local advocacy group People for Fairness Coalition, of which the public restroom initiative is a project, has been researching and lobbying for “clean, safe public restrooms” since embarking on a feasibility study in 2014.
