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Whether you are in a busy urban area or far out in the burbs it can be a challenge to find a good bathroom stop when doing rideshare or delivery. Off hours and unfamiliar locations can make this even trickier. Additionally some businesses have started restricting access to drivers, either with signage or a general customers only rule. Employees and customers are permitted while drivers are being denied. This can be particularly troublesome especially in cities with few public toilets and difficult parking. Independent contractors have to deal with this and several other ways that basic rights are not protected as they are by a traditional employer. Reports of drivers peeing in bottles, or sharing their trouble locating clean decent facilities fill driver forums.
So far there isn’t much interest from the big gig economy companies in offering a solution. While we wait, ingenuity to the rescue! Here are some apps that can bring you some relief.
Sit or Squat by Charmin
‘Sit or Squat’ by Charmin is a free bathroom finder app that shows you where a well reviewed (Sit) or less idea (squat) is located nearby. You can filter handicap accessible and baby changing friendly. I gave it a try and it was quick with little to no setup. The app starts you out as a guest login, with a free account available on the main menu. You go straight to the map after allowing location services and even in my suburb area showed many available stops with business names or details included to help you find it. With 100,000 listings even outside the US and an add a bathroom feature this might be a great tool to add to your arsenal.
Flush
Another good option is called Flush. Starting out is quick and easy, allow location services to see a map with listings. Business names and details such as disabled accessibility, requires key, or requires fee are shown in a list below the map. You can add new bathrooms to this map as well. If you click on the listing the app kicks you to your default map app for directions. A nice feature here is this app works without internet to be reliable in areas with spotty service (I HAD to test this by turning off my internet and restarting the app, the same listings came back)
This app claims 190,000 listings and is available free for iOS or Android.
Bathroom Scout
Claiming 1,800,000 bathrooms worldwide, this bathroom finder should have listings near you. Bathroom scout offers a quick setup, only requiring location before showing the map. There you can select satellite view. Icons on the map once clicked show an address and you can select navigate for directions. Most icons information includes a business name, and some offer ratings, hours, and whether they are disabled accessible. Bathrooms rated disabled accessible show a handicap icon on the map. In the menu you can filter how many bathrooms to show, and what type; either all, public only, or handicap only. You can also change the icons size on the map, and display mode (dark, light.) Add a bathroom feature is available as well, enabling the app to improve over time.
Bathroom Scout is currently $.99 and available for iOS or Android
Anyfinder
Anyfinder is an App with more functionality if you prefer a multitasker. Currently ios only, this free app allows you to find a plethora of points of interest sorted on a main menu and sub menus including bathrooms. On testing this app I was a bit surprised by the extensive setup. First you accept the technicalities, License agreement, terms of privacy and privacy policy. You choose to allow or not analytics for app crashes, and then you pick your ad preferences. You can have personalized ads which collect more information or not personalized but show more often. Also you can choose to pay for Pro for no ads and additional features like sorting your own. Then after allowing location services and either creating a free account or choosing to do that later you are set. Now you see a menu with categories for points of interest. The menu icons are intuitive and clearly marked. If you select facilities, it shows the next menu where you can choose toilets. Listings have varying degrees of detail, from Public toilet and an address or business names, icons for free, public, phone numbers, websites, and hours. You can also sort the list by name or distance. This has a few less listings near me than the other apps but with the various uses this could be a great choice for some.
Keep in mind, new bathrooms are added to most of these all the time by users so these should keep getting better with updated cleanliness ratings, disabled markings, and many new locations. If nothing else you can add in the ones you find to reference later. Whether you rideshare, deliver, or simply drive often I hope you can do so more conveniently and stress free with the aid of these apps.
