Mobile Toilets on American Streets

Mobile toilets do exist on American streets, and they exhibit diverse characteristics in their application, including both ordinary mobile toilets and innovative forms such as smart public toilets, but there are also some issues.

Situation of Ordinary Mobile Toilets

Ordinary mobile toilets are present on American streets, and there have been some accidental incidents related to them. For example, a man accidentally slipped into the toilet bowl of a mobile toilet while picking up a beverage bottle and was trapped for as long as 8 hours. This incident reflects that there may be some safety hazards in the use of ordinary mobile toilets, such as potential unreasonable aspects in the design of the toilet bowl and the internal space layout, which can easily lead to accidental situations for users. In addition, the internet buzzword 'American beehive' refers to mobile toilets, indicating that mobile toilets are relatively common on American streets, have become well-known to the public, and are spread on the internet with such a vivid term.

Pilot Application of Smart Public Toilets

New York City has piloted the use of 'smart public toilets' equipped with fully automatic timing, intelligent early warning, and remote supervision functions. These smart public toilets have many advantages. They do not need to be connected to the city's water and sewage networks, which makes their installation process more efficient and enables them to be quickly deployed in places like streets where they are needed. At the same time, due to the lack of a need for complex network connections, their construction costs are relatively lower, making them a more cost-effective choice for the construction and renovation of urban public facilities.

Problems with Smart Public Toilets

However, the smart public toilets piloted in New York City also have some obvious flaws. The rule that the facilities rely on mobile phones and special cards for unlocking restricts the use of some people to a certain extent. For vulnerable groups in the city such as the homeless, they may not have mobile phones or special cards, which means they cannot use these smart public toilets, exposing the lack of inclusiveness of smart public toilets and the fact that they do not fully consider the usage needs of all citizens.