When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go and on paper, the city of Atlanta has hundreds of options.
But when it comes to actually getting into a public bathroom for some relief, a recent study by Georgia State University shows that less than half of Atlanta’s public bathrooms are actually usable.
Study author and assistant professor April Ballard, who co-leads the GSU Center on Health and Homelessness, said the consequences for inadequate public sanitation was more than just an issue of convenience.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The problem before us
The study said that the ability to just go the bathroom was easier in the past, saying that the United States used to have investments in government-operated public bathrooms.
That shifted after the ban of pay toilets, which the study said led to a lack of access to bathrooms in public and a reliance on private, commercial facilities, instead.
These facilities are places like gas stations, restaurants, coffee shops and other places the public can visit but not stay.
But businesses have begun restricting universal access to their facilities, as it is not something they are obligated to provide.
“Most people have probably been out somewhere and have been unable to find a bathroom when they’ve needed it at some point in their life,” Ballard said. “But some people rely on that public infrastructure as their sole access point. Our cities and infrastructure should reflect the universal needs that people have.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ex-Georgia housing authority director indicted in alleged $2.5 million fraud scheme
- Atlanta aid organization using AI partnership to improve access to food assistance
- Study says 5 minimum wage workers needed to rent 1-bedroom apartment in Atlanta
What did the study find?
Researchers with the university looked at the public bathrooms available in 15 areas across Atlanta, like transit hubs, the city’s downtown, public parks and neighborhoods where tourists visit.
Of the 262 locations they went to, 55% of them did not have bathrooms the public could use or that were restricted to customers only.
Others that were unavailable were occupied for more than 10 minutes or were locked and otherwise not open for public use.
The GSU public bathroom audits found that privately funded bathrooms were more common than government-funded locations, 57% of them to be more precise.
The study said that when it came to public availability, “Government-funded bathrooms had a larger quantity of functional toilets, urinals, and sinks, whereas privately funded facilities were more likely to be single-occupancy and allow use without first requiring access via gate or turnstile. Findings reveal spatial inequities in public bathroom access across Atlanta and a reliance on private infrastructure to meet public needs, underscoring uneven urban sanitation provisions as a feature of the city’s built environment.”
Where there’s a problem, there must also be solutions
As part of their research process, the Georgia State University team informed local efforts to improve the infrastructure for public sanitation.
Part of that was working in partnership with Atlanta-based Central Outreach and Advocacy Center, to share their preliminary findings with Atlanta officials.
Following that sharing of information, GSU said Atlanta announced the installation of 12 Throne Labs public bathrooms ahead of the FIFA World Cup’s arrival in the city.
Channel 2 Action News reported when the public bathroom’s addition to the Atlanta Beltline was announced in June.
“Guided by data, cities can make real progress to improve sanitation for both visitors and residents,” Ballard, co-leader of GSU’s Center on Health and homelessness, said. “Adequate sanitation is critical for health and well-being, as well as the dignity of our neighbors and the vibrancy of our neighborhoods.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
