gmania
Active Member
The pay public washrooms or automated public toilet or whatever they are calling it is part of the street furniture program. As you said, the first one is being installed on the NW corner of Rees and Queens Quay. 19 more to go.
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The pay public washrooms or automated public toilet or whatever they are calling it is part of the street furniture program. As you said, the first one is being installed on the NW corner of Rees and Queens Quay. 19 more to go.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Given how poorly the new garbage bins function one can only adopt a wait-and-see and you-go-first approach to the toilets.
My father was once attacked by a malfunctioning automatic toilet door in Pisa - he paid, but every time he attempted to dodge into the contraption it snapped shut. Quite fun to watch, but I'm sure it took several years off of him.
My father was once attacked by a malfunctioning automatic toilet door in Pisa - he paid, but every time he attempted to dodge into the contraption it snapped shut. Quite fun to watch, but I'm sure it took several years off of him.
Patriot
Active Member
Why haven't they installed the new consolidated newspaper holders yet?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Because of the internet.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Is scratchitti a new thing? I figured that it was a low grade glass being used hense the mess most bus shelters are in, I don't recall ever seeing this with the old shelters.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Scrattchiti seems to be a relatively new phenomenon, perhaps more pervasive because we're building more and more things out of glass.
It's not easy to scratch glass. You can take an X-Acto knife to a shelter and nothing will happen. You need a diamond or another sharp rock. I suspect diamond tipped drill bits are being used.
This problem is going to get worse before it gets better. My guess is that the perps are young and looking to leave their mark so they're also going to be reckless. It shouldn't take much more than a couple of detectives dedicated to this case to start arresting people and send out the message that you can't get away with it.
It's not easy to scratch glass. You can take an X-Acto knife to a shelter and nothing will happen. You need a diamond or another sharp rock. I suspect diamond tipped drill bits are being used.
This problem is going to get worse before it gets better. My guess is that the perps are young and looking to leave their mark so they're also going to be reckless. It shouldn't take much more than a couple of detectives dedicated to this case to start arresting people and send out the message that you can't get away with it.
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Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Diamonds are a thug's best friend.
tkip
Active Member
While I applaud any effort at going after vandals and hitting them with hefty fines, it's also impractical to actually try and catch these guys in the act.
I'm pretty sure this is being done at night and no one is around. How do you stop this? I wonder why the company responsible for the new shelters didn't use that protective film that we're starting to see on the transit vechicles. Personally, I hate vandals and this includes jerks who tag and scratch. They're parasites who have zero respect for property not belonging to them.
What I would love to see is actually see some of these guys caught and hit with several thousand dollar fines to send a very clear message. But since we live in the age of doing whatever you want with no accountability for your actions, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Modern society is really starting to resemble a cesspool more and more these days. This loutish, self-asorbed trashy behaviour is beginning to spiral out of control.
We need to bring back shame, tough love and facing the consequences.
I'm pretty sure this is being done at night and no one is around. How do you stop this? I wonder why the company responsible for the new shelters didn't use that protective film that we're starting to see on the transit vechicles. Personally, I hate vandals and this includes jerks who tag and scratch. They're parasites who have zero respect for property not belonging to them.
What I would love to see is actually see some of these guys caught and hit with several thousand dollar fines to send a very clear message. But since we live in the age of doing whatever you want with no accountability for your actions, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Modern society is really starting to resemble a cesspool more and more these days. This loutish, self-asorbed trashy behaviour is beginning to spiral out of control.
We need to bring back shame, tough love and facing the consequences.
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grey
Senior Member
ganjavih
Senior Member
"you better believe that's a paddlin'"
ShonTron
Moderator
Member Bio
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That reference is much older. It comes from an old commercial that first appeared in the 1970s and parodied in the Simpsons episode with Homer as the garbage commissioner.
adma
Superstar
gmania
Active Member
The Future of Coin-Op Urination is Now
Steve Kupferman
http://torontoist.com/2010/05/the_future_of_coin-op_urination_is_now.php
Toronto's coordinated street furniture program, though troubled by the occasional legal dispute, rolls on. Earlier this week, we were tipped off to the presence of a new permanent resident on the corner of Queen's Quay and Rees Street: Toronto's very first pay toilet, still swaddled in hoarding.
Kyp Perikleous, who oversees the coordinated street furniture program for the City, says the washroom should be available for use by the end of this month. "There's a great deal of mechanical that still needs to be connected," he told us, meaning subterranean connections to the city's water, sewer, and electricity networks. The washroom is not just a hole in the ground; it's a robot, capable of working round the clock, with stainless-steel fixtures and self-cleaning ability. There will be a human maintenance crew on call twenty-four hours a day to fix any mechanical hiccups. The washroom also has heating and air-conditioning, which makes it nicer than our apartment.
Astral Media, the advertising company that is providing all this new street furniture to the City in exchange for the right to advertise in Toronto's rights-of-way, is obligated to provide nineteen more of these washrooms before the end of their twenty-year contract. Perikleous says the next three will appear sometime in September. Then, sometime after the following August, Astral and the City will begin installing more at a rate of two per year.
As recently as last December, the National Post was reporting that the per-use price for the new washrooms would be one dollar. A peek under the hoarding revealed that the price has fallen considerably in the interval between then and now, to a very reasonable twenty-five cents. (Astral keeps the admission fee, so it's safe to say this wasn't their idea.) Perikleous says tokens will be provided to outreach programs, so homeless people can use the washrooms for free.
Keep checking Torontoist for more exciting robot washroom coverage.
Thanks to reader Jonathan for the tip.
Steve Kupferman
http://torontoist.com/2010/05/the_future_of_coin-op_urination_is_now.php
Toronto's coordinated street furniture program, though troubled by the occasional legal dispute, rolls on. Earlier this week, we were tipped off to the presence of a new permanent resident on the corner of Queen's Quay and Rees Street: Toronto's very first pay toilet, still swaddled in hoarding.
Kyp Perikleous, who oversees the coordinated street furniture program for the City, says the washroom should be available for use by the end of this month. "There's a great deal of mechanical that still needs to be connected," he told us, meaning subterranean connections to the city's water, sewer, and electricity networks. The washroom is not just a hole in the ground; it's a robot, capable of working round the clock, with stainless-steel fixtures and self-cleaning ability. There will be a human maintenance crew on call twenty-four hours a day to fix any mechanical hiccups. The washroom also has heating and air-conditioning, which makes it nicer than our apartment.
Astral Media, the advertising company that is providing all this new street furniture to the City in exchange for the right to advertise in Toronto's rights-of-way, is obligated to provide nineteen more of these washrooms before the end of their twenty-year contract. Perikleous says the next three will appear sometime in September. Then, sometime after the following August, Astral and the City will begin installing more at a rate of two per year.
As recently as last December, the National Post was reporting that the per-use price for the new washrooms would be one dollar. A peek under the hoarding revealed that the price has fallen considerably in the interval between then and now, to a very reasonable twenty-five cents. (Astral keeps the admission fee, so it's safe to say this wasn't their idea.) Perikleous says tokens will be provided to outreach programs, so homeless people can use the washrooms for free.
Keep checking Torontoist for more exciting robot washroom coverage.
Thanks to reader Jonathan for the tip.
grey
Senior Member
Just posting here to point out that the plastic bags taped to utility poles are performing above and beyond the capabilities of the street furniture bins.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Hahaha! That's hilarious.
While I'm getting used to the new bins and I prefer them over the silver megabins, they are definitely not performing up to the requirements of the agreement between Astral and the City: clean and well maintained. The plastic shell is not working. It gathers dirt way too easily and it's not easy to clean, even with pressure washers.
What I think is needed on that front is to replace the shell with a proven material: the aluminium used in the previous generation. While those bins were an eyesore because they were an advertising billboard first, a garbage bin second, their metal material was easy to pressure wash and even rain helped to keep them clean. Even graffiti and posters were easily removed by a pressure washer.
When it comes to their capacity, I think the problem isn't their size. There are larger ones that are being used in higher traffic areas. What is needed are more bins in these areas and/or more frequent collection. There's a learning curve, I think and it should be sorted out by the time the next wave of bins are distributed.
While I'm getting used to the new bins and I prefer them over the silver megabins, they are definitely not performing up to the requirements of the agreement between Astral and the City: clean and well maintained. The plastic shell is not working. It gathers dirt way too easily and it's not easy to clean, even with pressure washers.
What I think is needed on that front is to replace the shell with a proven material: the aluminium used in the previous generation. While those bins were an eyesore because they were an advertising billboard first, a garbage bin second, their metal material was easy to pressure wash and even rain helped to keep them clean. Even graffiti and posters were easily removed by a pressure washer.
When it comes to their capacity, I think the problem isn't their size. There are larger ones that are being used in higher traffic areas. What is needed are more bins in these areas and/or more frequent collection. There's a learning curve, I think and it should be sorted out by the time the next wave of bins are distributed.
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