This piece was first published by the nonprofit blog and advocacy organization Greater Greater Washington on Oct. 10.
Despite the fact that downtown Washington, D.C. receives more than 20 million visitors a year and hosts thousands of more residents every day, it currently only has five public restrooms available during the day off the National Mall—all of the rest are privately operated. A bill before the D.C. Council this fall could change that, but it needs your help. 
This issue affects everyone. Everyone needs ready access to a clean, safe restroom when nature calls. Access to a clean, safe restroom is a United Nations recognized human right. It’s fundamental to human dignity, is key for personal and public health and contributes to livable cities for everyone.
Most European and Asian capitals, recognizing this, have installed public restrooms in populated public areas. For example, London offers an interactive map that shows all of the publicly-accessible toilets in its downtown area.
In contrast, in the District, there are only five public restrooms (off of the National Mall) that are open during the day. Only two are open 24/7. They’re near the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, so neither is convenient for people who need them at night.
This is an issue for everyone.
We all need to use a restroom several times a day. This is especially important for people who are restroom challenged (including seniors, young children and people taking certain medications) because when nature calls, they have to go urgently. Walkers; joggers; bicyclists; taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers; parents of toddlers; and people experiencing homelessness benefit, too. So do tourists—and that’s an important industry for the city.
However, those who cannot find a restroom when nature calls and are caught urinating or defecating in public risk a fine of up to $500, 90 days in jail or both.
The D.C. Council could act and start to address this. One proposed solution comes in the form of Bill 22-0223, the Public Restroom Facilities Installation & Promotion Act of 2017. Bill 22-0223 establishes a working group to identify an appropriate model and sites for 24/7 stand-alone public restrooms. It also directs the working group to propose a program to provide incentives to private businesses to make their restrooms available to the public during the hours they are open.
The guidance included in Bill 22-0223 is taken from lessons learned and best practices of cities in the U.S. and elsewhere that have been successful in installing and maintaining clean, safe and accessible public restrooms. For example, based on our research we think there are two particular models that would be good for D.C.: the Portland Loo and the Community Toilet Scheme.
The Portland Loo is a prefabricated structure that takes up an area the size of a parking place that could be placed around downtown D.C. Another route couple be to implement a Community Toilet Scheme. Instead of building additional public toilets, this scheme provides an incentive to businesses in highly-frequented areas to open their restrooms to the public.
If passed, Bill 22-0223 will empower an interagency working group to look into these kinds of solutions and how to implement them in D.C.
Bill 22-0223 was introduced in April 2017, and it’s working through the Committee of Transportation and Environment and the Committee on Health. Unfortunately, if the the bill is not brought forward for a full Council vote by the end of this year, the legislative process must start over.
That is why the organization we work for, the People for Fairness Coalition Downtown DC Public Restroom Initiative is joining with Greater Greater Washington to call upon the DC Council to pass this bill by the end of the year. Twenty-one organizations and thirteen ANCs have previously supported this Initiative and bill, but now we need a final push.
Please join us in signing this petition urging action from the DC Council and share it with your colleagues and friends.
We can’t wait any longer!
Marcia Bernbaum, George Olivar, Janet Sharp and John McDermott are members of the advocacy group People for Fairness Coalition.
