Provide safe, accessible LRT toilets
31 January, 2015
It is hard to believe that a citizen’s group (GottaGo! campaign) has had to form to advocate for toilets in our new LRT line. With an estimated 10,000 people per hour going through the system, the need for public facilities is surely blindingly obvious?
Not only is this a public health issue (as in, what happens when someone’s “gotta go” and there is no facility available?), it is also an equity issue, as pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic disease or even small children, may be effectively confined to their homes lest they be “caught short” in transit.
There is no excuse for this omission. Safe and accessible toilets have been designed and are in use in many other countries. The cost is tiny compared to the benefit to the travelling public of a clean, accessible transit system suitable for a modern city and the country’s capital.
I urge the mayor and council to make the sensible decision and require the LRT to provide this essential public service.
Cathleen Kneen, Ottawa