MTA Panel OKs Installation of No-Fee Toilets at Rail Stations

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee decided Wednesday that the agency should install public toilets at rail stations but not charge for the privilege of using them.

The MTA’s Operations Committee voted unanimously against charging, saying it would not be worth the effort to collect a quarter per visit.

By disposing of the idea, the committee avoided any chance of running afoul of a state law banning pay toilets in public buildings.

The county counsel had advised that the no-pay-toilets law authored by former Secretary of State March Fong Eu didn’t apply to the MTA because it doesn’t fall within the definition of a “public agency.”

Such advice notwithstanding, the politicians on the panel avoided the risk of imposing yet another user fee. They urged MTA officials to retain plans to negotiate a contract for the automated public toilets with Omni Outdoor and Strategic Technologies International.

The companies want to put small structures housing the public toilets on the sidewalks outside subway stations and at other transit locations. The need is there. The MTA’s $5-billion subway system was designed without public restrooms.

A representative of a Los Angeles homeless-assistance group said it would help make free tokens available if the MTA insisted on having pay toilets.

But MTA board member John Fasana said the toilets should be free. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich agreed, making a motion not to charge “the customer for the privilege of using a public restroom.”

That brought Juan Levy, co-chairman of Strategic Technologies International, which makes the high-tech toilets, to the podium. Although the 25-cent fee would not generate much money, Levy argued unsuccessfully that the charge should be imposed to prevent abuse of the facilities.