Thanks to a ban on paid restrooms dating back to the 1970s, people in the United States have become accustomed to enjoying free access to public restrooms wherever their travels take them. However, depending on the town or city, free-use bathrooms are not necessarily plentiful — or well-maintained, for that matter.
Instead of political momentum in the United States to build more and better public toilets, developers and entrepreneurs have tried to address the problem in several ways. Beyond maps that track the locations of public toilets, startups like Throne are deploying high-tech, self-cleaning, self-contained portable toilets that can be booked through a mobile app.
But what about opening several bathrooms owned by existing companies?
A new project that will be launched at CES 2024, Flush, wants to do just that – rent out restrooms to customers across cafes, restaurants, hotels and other high-traffic areas. Elle Szabo, a USC computer science graduate, founded Flush after frustrating experiences trying to find public bathrooms while taking diuretic medication.
“I’ll never forget the day I went out to a big dinner and we all piled into the car to go hang out in Pasadena, where I knew there wouldn’t be any open bathrooms,” Szabo told TechCrunch in an email interview. “We had been driving for a few minutes when I had to force the car to stop at the nearest building – which in this case was a hospital! If taking this medication was a problem for me, I wondered how many other people it was a problem for.”
Flush is essentially a two-sided marketplace for bathrooms. Business owners can list their bathrooms for rent, for a maximum price of $10, and users can find and reserve available bathrooms through the Flush web-based app. Flush plans to take a portion of reservations — but doesn’t currently take them.
To combat bathroom contamination of guests, Flush has a built-in rating system, which providers see when they approve a bathroom reservation. (One hopes there are measures to prevent abuse; Szabo didn’t say.) Flush is also exploring a form of insurance to compensate companies in the event of damage caused by guests, for example a major plumbing issue.
“With Flush, a coffee shop or café can create an additional revenue stream without increasing overhead,” Szabo said. “On top of the added revenue stream, Flush provides a unique way to attract new customers without any additional marketing.”
Szabo was so excited about the idea that he declared that Flush could “fix bathroom distribution to people one day.” But outside of buying coffee as a courtesy, I’m not convinced the average person would pay $5 to use the bathroom, even in an emergency.
Speaking as someone who did not grow up in a country where paying for a toilet is the norm, it would be difficult to make a mental adjustment. Even Europeans might balk at this, as fee toilets in countries like Italy tend to be much cheaper (about a euro or so) than what Flush is currently charging.
Now, to be fair, there are some situations – for example diaper changes – where I can imagine a customer being able to justify the Flush fee, especially if there aren’t any other viable options nearby. Szabo envisions companies creating exclusive entrances that allow customers to bypass lines and cover fees (imagine a crowded bar or club), which would undoubtedly have some appeal.
But the idea of renting toilets has been tried before, with little success, particularly.
Good2Go, like Flush, partners with local companies to rent out its bathrooms, and charges a subscription fee that it shares with the owners. Despite securing high-profile early clients like Peet’s Coffee and raising a $7 million seed round, Good2Go — which was also working with companies to renovate restrooms — eventually pivoted to selling generic door access control technology after failing to take off. Economy.
Restspace, another bathroom rental service, is still alive. But it charges on a per-minute basis (e.g. $15 for 15 minutes), which is a potentially more lucrative business model than Flush.
Even if Flush, which will launch in Pittsburgh, where Szabo is headquartered, takes off, I think it will eventually become more difficult for companies to handle the logistics of knowing who has purchased access to which bathroom — and which customer is the next one. There is a queue. Flush is considering purchasing smart locks to allow users to self-service, but Szabo has not yet committed to that idea.
The big issue here is the harm that platforms like Flush can cause to those who cannot afford to pay the fees.
Some might argue that governments, not companies, should be building and servicing more public toilets – and this writer is no different. But since there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for this kind of infrastructure spending, privately owned toilets have become increasingly popular. A vital resource For homeless residents who would have to urinate or defecate in the street.
But Szabo doesn’t see it that way.
“Homelessness is a growing problem, and some service providers fear a homeless person will destroy or soil a bathroom,” she said. “Flush provides a way to and provides access to a clean, reliable bathroom…Airbnb has been a huge success because it provides something we all need — a roof over our heads — and Flush does the same for bathrooms.”
Flush, which Szabo runs and codes itself, is currently up and running. She’s in the process of registering companies, attracting investors (hence the CES media tour), and plans to hire an employee this year.