cover of episode Why it's so hard to find a public toilet

Why it's so hard to find a public toilet

2025/5/2
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Erika Barris
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John Cochran
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March Fong Yu
M
Michael Gessel
R
Rick Weinmeier
T
Teddy Siegel
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Teddy Siegel: 我在纽约市创建了一个众包的公共厕所地图，以解决城市中难以找到公共厕所的问题。这个地图包含了各种可以随意进入使用的厕所地点，例如教堂、书店和酒店等。我最初的灵感来自于我个人在纽约市寻找厕所的经历，当时我需要上厕所却找不到合适的场所，最后不得不在麦当劳买了一瓶水才能使用他们的厕所。这次经历让我意识到公共厕所的缺乏是一个普遍存在的问题，因此我决定创建一个地图来帮助其他人。 Erika Barris: 美国曾经拥有大量的公共厕所，其中包括收费厕所。然而，在20世纪60年代，一场旨在废除收费厕所的社会运动取得了成功，这导致了免费公共厕所的减少，并最终造成了如今的公共厕所短缺问题。 Michael Gessel: 我和我的兄弟从年轻时就反对收费厕所，认为这是对人们权利的侵犯。我们认为收费厕所是不公平的，因为每个人都有上厕所的需求。我们发起了一场运动，最终成功地促使许多州立法禁止收费厕所。虽然我们为这项成就感到自豪，但我们也意识到，收费厕所的消失导致了免费公共厕所的减少，这是一种我们没有预料到的后果。 March Fong Yu: 我参与了一场反对收费厕所的大型抗议活动，并用大锤砸毁了一个收费厕所，以象征性地表达我们对收费厕所的不满。这场活动吸引了公众的广泛关注，并为废除收费厕所的运动增添了动力。 John Cochran: 收费厕所的消失导致免费公共厕所的减少，这是一种典型的价格管制导致的市场失灵现象。当政府干预市场，将价格设定为零时，就会导致供给减少，需求增加，最终导致资源短缺。 Rick Weinmeier: 公共厕所是一种公共物品，应该由政府提供足够的数量。然而，美国政府从未完全将公共厕所视为公共物品，这导致了公共厕所的短缺。此外，美国在公共厕所问题上存在市场失灵、监管失灵和公共卫生失灵等多种问题。

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Why is it so hard to find a bathroom when you need one? In the U.S., we used to have lots of publicly accessible toilets. But many had locks on the doors and you had to put in a coin to use them. Pay toilets created a system of haves and have nots when it came to bathroom access. So in the 60s, movements sprung up to ban pay toilets.Problem is: when the pay toilets went away, so too did many free public toilets. Today on the show, how toilets exist in a legal and economic netherworld; they're not quite a public good, not quite a problem the free market can solve.Why we're stuck, needing to go, with nowhere to go.*This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune and engineered by Cena Loffredo. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.Find more Planet Money: Facebook) / Instagram) / TikTok) / Our weekly Newsletter).Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts), Spotify), the NPR app) or anywhere you get podcasts.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts) or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney).Music: Audio Network - "Smoke Rings," "Can't Walk Away" and "Bright Crystals."*Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)