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This data should be contributed to openstreetmap and not just added to a possibly short-lived public website.
OSM has been outstandingly good for finding public toilets almost wherever I went.
A lot of the data is already available on data.gov.ie in geojson format, especially for the Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. I just wish these people would abide by the CC-BY licence of their original datasource and credit it.
I wish we in Canada had a great site like that. Statistics Canada is notoriously aggressive and the data they do collect is presented in a horrible like a website from the 1990s. That's if you can even find what you want on one of several sites, each dataset is its own website.
Then it would also show up in the nice oss LavSeeker app: https://github.com/woheller69/lavatories
I second this. The data should be merged upstream to OSM, and they have a fairly well documented process to add such contributions.
Yep, and also with much more data for example "toilets:wheelchair=yes/no/limited":
As well as cost, payment methods and opening hours
For those who are interested, the OsmAnd app with the OSM extension enabled is the easiest way to add/enrich map data in my opinion. I have added hundreds of small contributions over the years.
And there's already an app that shows toilets based on OSM, it's called LavSeeker.
what search engine/service do I need to use to find public toilets on OSM? I tested it with public toilets but was only able to find one 'dog toilet' within city limits...
In the end OSM is a database. I use OsmAnd, but I believe that Maps.me uses the same dataset.
https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1Wqq
Basically this
Fiddle with the query, and you can extract pretty much whatever you want from the OSM database
LavSeeker app. It's on F-Droid. Not sure if it's on the play store too.
Here is an OSM View on this issue: https://mapcomplete.org/toilets?z=6.9&lat=53.59682559120259&...
This reminds me of an old project of mine on similar theme.
Years ago, as a frustrated young parent, I created a similar project which helped me find toilets near me. I used OSM's Overpass Turbo API and it was an interesting experience.
My solution was to use OsmAnd with a custom list of POIs that includes toilets.
This way I got a map that shows at a glance where the closest toilets are, as well as playgrounds, picnic tables, castles, ruins, water mills and lavoir/wash-houses (these are the areas that I've found to always be nice places when you have to stop on the way to rest and eat).
What I’d like to see is data on if there’s a changing table and if it’s in the women’s restroom only.
Surprisingly large number of places have them, but too large a fraction have nothing in the men’s room.
It is a lot more common (here in the UK) than it used to be to have them separate from toilets or otherwise accessible to men.
I remember the first time (before I had kids) I saw one in a men's toilet, and I was very impressed with how progressive it was. It was in the cafe toilets at St-Martin-in-the-fields church in London (the one on Trafalgar square). It has taken a long time, but we have come a long way since then (but much further to go, in terms of catering to, and valuing fatherhood).
Public toilets: another thing Europe's got going for them.
These are basically impossible to find in the US, especially in big cities.
Any bar or hotel has a public bathroom. Most restaurants as well.
They probably won't be happy if you just use the bathroom and don't order anything. Here some fastfood places near busy subway stations have a combination lock on the door to prevent random people from using the bathroom (the code is in the receipt).
Not even close to the same. There's no expectation to buy something, and in many cities, they either don't have bathrooms or they prohibit non-patrons from using them.
I really need this for Canada and the US where finding a public toilet is close to a miracle. Of course, a few people walk in NA, especially in the suburbs, but this is one of many "against walking" pokes. Even a map of covered bushes would be great. Wall into suburbs and you won't find anything for miles.
In the US you search for "fast food" instead of "public toilet".
There used to be a popular app in the early days of the app store called SitOrSquat, that had locations of public toilets along with reviews of their condition. It was really useful. Charmin bought it at some point, and it existed for a while after that, but like most of the cool apps, it’s gone now.
Here is the one from Zürich Switzerland.
https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/de/stadtleben/zusammenleben/oef...
Not saying it’s a bad idea but it’s not original. A certain George Costanza built it first.
Yes but his iToilet app shut down after he lost all his money with Bernie Madoff.
How could he be so fiscally irresponsible?
Madoff!
This is the UK equivalent: https://www.toiletmap.org.uk/ - love this stuff!
Afaik you can use the toilet at any pub by law. So that kind of puts a lot more pins on the map!
I am open to correction but my understanding is there is no such law. Food establishments do have to have toilet facilities but operators are permitted to refuse entry to the premises to anyone as long as it's not discriminatory. As a result, many operators operate a "customers only" policy.
you can also map.name the favourite ones, like this https://map.name/ozm.balbriggan.cave
An Ireland focused project on the frontpage - delightful!