# What happened to pay toilets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329 "2008-01-04T22:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/1 "2008-01-04T22:38:15Z")
Do pay toilets still exist anywhere…or has the civilized world finally come to their senses that Capitalism should STOP here? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/2 "2008-01-04T22:54:02Z")
[We have them](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=paytoilet+sanfrancisco&ss=2&ct=6&s=int) in San Francisco, though they are, of course, out of service a fair amount of the time. They were installed less than ten years ago, too. [More here](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/05/03/MN25860.DTL&sn=003&sc=677). ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/3 "2008-01-04T22:55:51Z")
I guess, in SF, you gotta pay as you go, huh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/4 "2008-01-04T22:59:32Z")
Having used the pay toilets in Euston station I know the UK still has them. We used to have the “pay-as-you-go” in a local shopping centre. It was 2p! Part of me wants them to bring it back, just for nostalgic purposes. ---
**Author:** ![ignis\_glaciesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ignis\_glaciesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignis_glaciesque)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/5 "2008-01-04T23:02:54Z")
I just got back from Sweden, and they still have pay toilets in malls and such. Believe me, comparing them to public toilets in America, that was _definitely_ worth the five crowns I paid to take a leak! ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/6 "2008-01-04T23:17:45Z")
I had a Grave Need and ran into a local McDonald’s to use their toilets, only to be confronted with a coin slot on the door. I’m assuming people who actually purchase food there are given some sort of key or something, but I’m not certain. I haven’t seen this in other restaurants, but this one is on a street that has a fair amount of transients and homeless people around. I saw several in Ediburgh, too, when I was there few years ago, mainly in shopping malls. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/7 "2008-01-04T23:49:49Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] Do pay toilets still exist anywhere…or has the civilized world finally come to their senses that Capitalism should STOP here? 😃 [/QUOTE] They certainly exist in Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/8 "2008-01-04T23:59:41Z")
If I went to a restaurant, paid for a meal, and went to the bathroom to find that I had to pay for it I’d be sorely tempted to use the sink isntead. In the United States I thought there were building codes stipulating that certain businesses had to have bathrooms for the public. Marc ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/9 "2008-01-05T00:06:01Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] [We have them](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=paytoilet+sanfrancisco&ss=2&ct=6&s=int) in San Francisco, though they are, of course, out of service a fair amount of the time. They were installed less than ten years ago, too. [More here](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/05/03/MN25860.DTL&sn=003&sc=677). [/QUOTE] Those same models can be found in Palo Alto, a affluent suburb closer to San Jose, but it’s 50¢ instead of 25¢. The stairwells to the parking garages still stink. San Jose put some in recently, too, but I think it’s just a quarter here. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/10 "2008-01-05T00:33:13Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] If I went to a restaurant, paid for a meal, and went to the bathroom to find that I had to pay for it I’d be sorely tempted to use the sink isntead. In the United States I thought there were building codes stipulating that certain businesses had to have bathrooms for the public. [/QUOTE] But the sink is also on the other side of the locked door, next to the toilet. Generally, restaurants are under some requirement from the local health codes to provide restroom facilities for their customers. Not the public at large. Health codes (as well as building codes) vary from county to county. Usually, it’s the fast-food places in “iffy” areas that lock the restrooms - otherwise they become havens for drug users and homeless. If you’re a customer there, all you need to do is ask at the counter for a token or the key. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/11 "2008-01-05T01:43:32Z")
There’s a Krystal’s on Bourbon St in New Orleans, just off of Canal. The bathroom doors unlock with tokens that you get from the cashiers. Given the location, it makes a hell of a lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pay-toilets/432329/12 "2008-01-05T02:04:04Z")
All the pay toilets I remember growing up seem to have moved to Mexico. And unlike **ignis\_glaciesque** ’s experience in Sweden, the majority that I’ve used aren’t worth the pesos they cost.