SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood blocks away from fancy stores and long lines of tourists waiting for cable cars have been cleaner since solar-powered toilets began rolling in four afternoons per week.
The city’s mobile bathrooms are guarded by attendants and have been so successful that officials say Honolulu, Portland and New York already have inquired about them in seeking solutions to similar sanitation problems.
Supporters of the pilot program say having public bathrooms accessible has made the neighborhood known for crime, homelessness and poverty more livable.
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim supported the program’s creation. She says the toilets afford “people some dignity to take care of a human need.”
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