Adding more women’s and unisex washrooms can boost a business’ bottom line, according to a new study from a Canadian university.
Academics at the University of British Columbia used queuing models and computer simulations to determine waiting times for toilets at different types of business.
The authors of the report, published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, used anecdotal evidence suggesting that women’s restroom waiting times are longer than those for men at busy venues like theatres and stadiums, as a springboard for their study.
Current code for designing restrooms at businesses are not based on objective analyses but on the survey of experts that may be male biased, the authors said.
The study, The potty parity problem: Towards gender equality at restrooms in business facilities, recommends increasing women’s washroom capacity and supplementing with unisex toilets, especially during peak times.
“If your customers are spending less time waiting for the washroom, they can spend more time doing business in your establishment,” said Tim Huh, lead author of the study.
“In a service setting, like restaurants or movie theatres, a positive washroom experience is something people expect, and inadequate facilities can have a strong negative impact on whatever product or service a business is providing.”
In facilities where bathroom breaks have peak times, like in schools or stadiums, a slight additional increase in demand has a substantial impact on waiting times, the authors observed.
“One way to achieve equality between men and women would be to make all washrooms unisex, because everyone would line up in the same line; but in terms of efficiency, it’s not optimal because unisex washrooms require more total space,” said Huh.
“Unisex washrooms can be more allocated to women when the women’s washroom is at capacity. Once a line starts to form at the unisex washroom, men will not line up there when there is an empty men’s washroom that they can choose. This is a good solution in many cases.”
In offices, where washroom visits are usually spread out over time, increasing the women’s washroom capacity is an adequate solution as wait times are often relatively low, the authors said.
