Wayfinding sign in the London Underground showing the location of a public washroom. (Shutterstock)
About two weeks ago, TransLink launched an online public consultation inviting the general public to submit their wish list for new and improved passenger amenities and services.
Now that the survey‘s open period is reaching its halfway point, with approximately two weeks to go until the consultation ends, the introduction of public washrooms onto the public transit network is the most common request to date. At the time of writing, roughly 10% of over 200 ideas submissions related to “washrooms” or “bathrooms.”
“These could be washrooms with on-site attendants (as seen in Europe) to deal with concerns about public safety, cleanliness or vandalism. As people’s transit commutes grow ever longer and the population ages, for the sake of public hygiene and to address human physical needs, this must happen,” reads one submission.
Consultation materials note there will be single-occupancy washrooms accessible from the public areas of the stations with the assistance of a SkyTrain attendant, similar to the existing policy on the SkyTrain network.
Two of the busiest stations Broadway-City Hall Station and Arbutus Station will be built with accessible washrooms in the fare paid zone in the future.
At Broadway-City Hall Station, the Millennium Line extension will share the existing Canada Line street entrance through an expansion. An interconnected series of underground pathways will seamless connect the Canada Line and Millennium Line platforms to support transfers; with the project replacing the 99 B-Line, it is estimated 75% of the Canada Line and Millennium Line passengers at Broadway-City Hall Station will remain underground when they perform their transfer.