WalkMassachusetts Network August Meeting Topic: Public Bathroom Access
The WalkMassachusetts Network meets every third Wednesday of each month at 1 pm, with the next being August 17, 2022. Our August presenter is Amith Saligrama, a high school student at the Commonwealth School in Boston passionately interested in improving our local communities. You can register for the August 17, 1pm meeting here.
He is the creator of bathroomaccess.com which maps and lists public (not private) toilets in the Greater Boston area. He found most city websites include a list of parks, trails, and even water-filling stations, but not restrooms. However, if there are no mentions of restrooms, how inclusive are we being? Over time, his goal has become equally balanced between helping people find restrooms and advocating for our local communities to acknowledge all biological needs and be welcoming to all who use our public space.
His interest in developing this map began in 2020, when his grandparents began to limit their daily walks due to a lack of restroom access. He realized that there are many people like his grandparents – parents with toddlers, taxi and delivery drivers – who need access to restrooms. This is a situation that has become more challenging since COVID-19 as private businesses have become reluctant to allow non-customers into their facilities.
Amith spoke to Grecia White from Streetsblog MASS (last month’s speaker!) about this effort: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/07/25/public-bathroom-access-an-undervalued-but-necessary-element-of-walking-transit-infrastructure/
WalkMassachusetts Network monthly meetings are free and open to anyone who wants to make a difference on walking efforts in their own community. We hope you’ll join us on August 17 at 1pm. Sign up here.