New York City has found a new use for the tap card: opening a public toilet.
The city is installing 17 modular bathrooms across its five boroughs. Visitors can unlock a door with a text message, QR code, app or card. The bathrooms are free, which may come as a relief to anyone who has ever bought an unwanted coffee solely to obtain a restroom code.
There is a distinctly New York urgency to the project. City officials say the city has roughly 1,000 public bathrooms for more than 8 million residents, plus everyone else passing through. A restroom may be available somewhere nearby. Finding it when you need it is another matter.
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The new units have flushing toilets, running water, climate control and baby-changing stations. They will open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The city has committed $4 million to a one-year pilot, with installation running from mid-September into October. Throne Labs, a company whose name needs no explanation, will operate and clean them.
The doors introduce a small test of modern life. Your phone can summon a car, order dinner and move money across borders. Now it can answer a more immediate call. According to the city’s access instructions, a visitor can text “Throne” and the unit number to unlock the door. Scanning the QR code starts a prewritten text. The app shows nearby units, availability and cleanliness ratings.
The tap card may be the most thoughtful part of the design. Local partners will distribute it for free, giving people without a smartphone or a charged battery another way in. City officials say signs at each bathroom will point to a card pickup location within a 10-minute walk. That is a welcome option, although a 10-minute walk can feel considerably longer under the circumstances.
Digital entry also lets Throne count visits and collect reports about cleanliness. The company says that information helps it send cleaners where they are needed. It gives the operator a way to address misuse as well. During the city’s Sept. 16 announcement, Throne said it can warn someone after detecting smoking during a visit associated with their phone.
Then there is the timer. At five minutes, the bathroom announces that the visit is halfway over. At eight, it warns that time is running out. At 10, lights flash and the door opens after a short warning period. Throne says the limit helps keep units available and can help in a medical emergency. It also acknowledged that it currently has no way to extend a visit for someone who needs more time, including people with mobility challenges.
The arrangement captures a larger design challenge for businesses and cities alike. An app can make a service easier to find and maintain. It can also make a dead battery, an unavailable phone or a difficult trip to collect a card part of the customer experience.
New York’s pilot will show whether the technology helps keep these bathrooms clean, available and easy to enter. For now, it has produced a rare civic offering: a free door that accepts four ways to get in, and no requirement to buy a latte first.
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