City of Long Beach Launches Pilot Program to Offer Smart Public Restrooms
The Californer/10313848

Long Beach, CA ~ Long Beach, CA - The City of Long Beach has recently announced a new partnership with Throne Labs to launch a four-month pilot program aimed at improving the local restroom experience and providing clean, safe, and family-friendly public restrooms. As part of this program, Throne smart restrooms have been installed at four locations across the city: DeForest Park, Harvey Milk Promenade Park, Belmont Pier, and Shoreline Marina.

According to Mayor Rex Richardson, public restrooms are an essential infrastructure that serves everyone in the community. This pilot program with Throne is a demonstration of the city's commitment to exploring innovative options to increase access to clean and safe public facilities. By implementing a solution that has been successful in other communities throughout LA County, Long Beach hopes to create more welcoming public spaces in its parks.

The Throne restrooms are equipped with 21 sensors that provide real-time data on the restroom's status, cleanliness levels, and usage statistics. These ADA-accessible facilities also feature running water sinks, flushing toilets, baby changing stations, and free menstrual products. Users can access the units via text message or mobile app during the pilot phase, ensuring accountability while maintaining user privacy. However, all community members will continue to have access to the city's other 52 freestanding public restrooms.

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The four-month program is being facilitated by the City's Parks, Recreation and Marine (PRM) Department and Technology and Innovation Department (TID). Data from the pilot will be evaluated by measuring key performance metrics such as usage patterns, user satisfaction ratings, cleanliness levels, uptime percentage, maintenance responsiveness, and comparative cost analysis. The built-in sensors in Throne restrooms will provide real-time data on these metrics while the city tracks changes in cleanliness and vandalism incidents compared to traditional facilities.

In addition to these metrics, a public survey will be posted at all Throne locations to gather direct feedback from residents and visitors about their experiences and perceptions of safety. This will ensure that community voices play a role in shaping future restroom infrastructure decisions.

Throne Labs has already installed 22 restrooms across Los Angeles County, with cleanliness ratings exceeding 4 out of 5 stars. These ratings are provided by users in real-time after each visit, helping the operations team maintain consistently excellent experiences. One Throne has been serving Long Beach's Willow Street Station since May 2024 as part of Throne's partnership with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with nearly 13,000 visits by 2,900 users and no security issues reported.

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According to Jessica Heinzelman, COO and Co-founder of Throne Labs, access to clean bathrooms is essential for vibrant communities. She expressed excitement about partnering with the City of Long Beach to demonstrate how access to delightful smart public restrooms can transform public spaces and make them more welcoming to residents and visitors.

Funding for this pilot program comes from the TID Innovation Fund and the PRM Department operating and maintenance funds. After the four-month period, the City will assess the program's success and determine if a more permanent program should be considered. They will also explore funding sources to cover the technology costs and seek external partners. If a permanent program is established, the City will also assess how best to provide access to users without mobile phones.

To learn more about Throne Labs and their mission to create facilities that everyone wants to use, visit thronelabs.co. With this new pilot program in place, Long Beach hopes to improve its restroom infrastructure and provide a better experience for all members of its community.

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