Long Beach adds new ‘smart’ public restrooms across city

The struggle to find a usable public bathroom has inspired various apps, guides and crowdsourced lists of codes. But four new “smart” public restrooms now available at some Long Beach parks and popular areas could help ease some of the anxiety.

The blue and white units are free to use, cleaned four times a day and have a 10-minute time limit. They join about two dozen others across L.A. County and are part of a four-month pilot program with Throne Labs.

Ryan Kurtzman,  technology partnerships officer for the Long Beach Technology and Innovation Department, told LAist it’s important that everyone has access to free, clean and safe public restrooms.

“ When I say everyone, I mean, you know, young people, older adults, women, people experiencing homelessness and everyone in between,” he said. “So that is really one of the city's goals with this pilot is to ensure that restroom access is something that is, you know, really a right for everyone in Long Beach.”

How they work

The restrooms are at DeForest Park near the pickleball courts, Harvey Milk Promenade Park in downtown, and along the water at Belmont Pier and the Shoreline Marina. These areas were chosen based on demand, according to the city.

Belmont Pier, in particular, has had notably high usage over the first month. Kurtzman said it's second only to the Throne restroom at the Little Tokyo/Arts District L.A. Metro station. The four units have had a overwhelming positive user rating, he said, and there's been only one graffiti incident.

The ADA-accessible restrooms include sinks, toilets, baby changing stations and a free menstrual pad dispenser. They’re open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day throughout the pilot phase, which runs until mid-August.

It’s rare a public restroom can be described as “delightful,” but that’s been Kurtzman’s experience with the Throne units so far.

“ People are saying that Thrones should be kind of the standard for restrooms in Long Beach,” he said. “They want more of these. …  I would say that everyone should try them out.”

Keep in mind you’ll need a phone to access the restroom — either through text or on the Throne app, which can tell you how clean it is and how to get to it. If you don’t have a phone, Long Beach pointed to the 52 other public restrooms in the city.

The city is paying a little more than $99,000 for the units throughout the pilot program. Plus, Kurtzman noted they don’t need any sewer or water connections, so the units can be adjusted or moved easily.

Other L.A. County locations

There are more than 20 Throne restrooms across L.A. County, mostly through an expanded partnership with L.A. Metro.

The restrooms were installed next to the Little Tokyo/Arts District, Highland Park and downtown Santa Monica stations earlier this year. They join the ranks of those near the Westlake / MacArthur Park, Norwalk and Sierra Madre Villa stations, among others.

You can find a full map from L.A. Metro here.

The Throne restrooms along the Metro system have been used more than 150,000 times since first launching in October 2023, according to the agency.

The restroom at the Willow Station in Long Beach alone has had nearly 13,000 visits across almost 3,000 users with “zero security issues” since last May, according to Throne Labs.

And you can expect them to become more common over the next few years after the L.A. Metro Board of Directors voted to expand the restrooms to up to 64 locations through 2028. The goal is to make the experience easier for Metro riders and contribute toward an expanded 2028 Olympic restroom infrastructure, according to the company.