What's Your Problem? Building a Better Public Bathroom
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Oct 16, 2025 Fletcher Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Throne Labs, tackles the challenge of making public bathrooms cleaner, safer, and more accessible. He discusses the historic decline of public toilets and how his team designs innovative, movable bathroom units equipped with smart features to prevent vandalism. Fletcher shares interesting insights about community advocacy and how local users often take pride in these facilities. He also recounts lessons learned from early tests, emphasizing accessibility and user feedback as keys to improving the public restroom experience.
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Necktie Trick For Bathroom Access
- Fletcher interviewed many people about bathroom habits and heard creative survival tactics from workers without regular access to toilets.
- One Uber driver kept a necktie to impersonate a hotel guest so he could use hotel bathrooms after drop-offs.
Why Public Bathrooms Disappeared
- Public bathrooms declined partly due to activism against pay toilets in the 1960s and 70s and safety concerns in modern cities.
- Cities fear private spaces in public areas will host drugs, prostitution, and other nefarious activity, deterring investment.
Tie Entry To Phone Texts
- Use phone-based entry (SMS) to attach mild accountability to public restroom users without invasive surveillance.
- Ask users for cleanliness feedback via SMS to get real-time reports and dispatch cleaners quickly.