Hey, there! Log in / Register
MBTA finally gets pissed off enough about the stench of urine-drenched elevators to try something new
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Putting Out Fires
Isn't that basically putting out fires after the fact? Shouldn't the idea be to prevent this from happening in the first place? I.E. doing something about the addicted and mentally ill who have set up housekeeping in the stations. But what is there to do? How do you help people who do not want to be helped? The eternal dilemma.
this won't solve mental health issues
This won't solve the large social problems of drug addiction and homelessness, but it's not claiming to. Not installing those sensors and calling the cleaning crew more quickly won't fix those problems either.
That's not the goal. If the sensors work, that will be an improvement over the current "system" of waiting for a rider to get into the elevator, notice the problem, and call the number on the sign to tell them to clean the elevator.
I would ask you how you plan to solve the larger problem, except that you've already said you don't know. The choice isn't between a much better society where everyone has safe housing, and what we have now. The choice is whether, in our current far-from-perfect society, the elevators are clean. Do you have a fire department, or do you shrug and let buildings burn, because they shouldn't have caught fire in the first place?
It would be cheaper and more
Time efficient if they just installed urinals.
Because lets be serious, it’s mostly guys pissing in the elevator and maybe occasionally the angry combat boot wearing chick.
Other areas smell like urine too.
Maybe clean everything?
(As an aside, make sure all T stations have restrooms that are easily located and operational.)
A press release about piss?
When you do a press release about urine detection sensors don't be surprised when reporters hold their noses knowing something smells awful about our subway system. Are they going to change the name of the T-Police to the P-Police?
Excuse me???!!! Is the MBTA
Excuse me???!!! Is the MBTA giving the poor cleaning crew a pay increase to do what the MBTA police and all the unattebded cameras we paid for don't do? Also, What does the cleaning crew get to defend themselves from drunken bros, homeless anger filled people, etc?
Excuse me???!!! Is the MBTA
Excuse me???!!! Is the MBTA giving the poor cleaning crew a pay increase to do what the MBTA police and all the unattebded cameras we paid for don't do? Also, What does the cleaning crew get to defend themselves from drunken bros, homeless anger filled people, etc?
Bathrooms. Charge a quarter
Bathrooms. Charge a quarter per use. Where the hell else are you supposed to pee ?? World class city needs bathrooms in their metro
Oh my good lord JUST PUT
Oh my good lord JUST PUT BATHROOMS IN THE STATIONS
Advice to the cleaning crew:
Advice to the cleaning crew: if the MBTA isn't giving you a pay raise, don't clean up until AFTER the urinator or vomiter or defacator leaves.
100 years Later
Oh, so after 100 years the T is just now had enough of urine stinking elevators?? I wonder what sent them over the edge?
I have to ask
Is this real? And is that a real thing?
How about if the urine sensors trigger…
… a bucket of cold water to tip over on the urinators head?
That might teach them not to do it again plus get a head start on diluting whatever urine has already leaked onto the elevator.
Terrible idea
And how exactly will the bucket tell the difference from someone urinating on purpose, from someone experiencing a medical emergency, or sneezed too unexpectedly or a child not quite potty trained?
Will this matter?
When it comes to getting caught, you have to wonder if people pissing in elevators really give a shit.
That's not the goal.
I don't think it's supposed to help catch the offenders—it's just to reduce the aggregate time the elevator spends soaked in urine.
Edit: I'll add that the sensor probably takes a while to activate. I *suspect* that it detects ammonia, not urea, and the conversion from one to the other takes some time. (This conversion is why stale urine is so much worse-smelling than fresh urine.)
Oh, this is so world class.
Oh, this is so world class.
You were saying about the
You were saying about the homeless in San Francisco?
I’ll save them the trouble:
I’ll save them the trouble: there’s always urine in every elevator.
LOL
I used the elevator with a friend at Aquarium Station yesterday. I told my friend "hold your breath" cuz its gonna smell like piss.
Amazingly enough it did not. I was shocked.. smelled like.. cleaning fluid.
Hey, I've got a crazy idea
Hear me out... What if the T tried installing public restrooms?
I think you mean
Public injection sites, in practice. If the T can't prevent people from pissing in the elevators, they sure don't have enough manpower to police what's going to go on in the bathrooms.
Whatever
It's not as if the lack of public restrooms has stopped people from injecting and OD'ing.
There's got to a be a way to provide restrooms that aren't operated by Dunkin and Starbucks.
I don't how well it works but the "Portland Loo" (Horrible name) in Harvard Square seems like it's somewhat of a solution to providing facilities that don't require attendants.
The T has public restrooms in
The T has public restrooms in some stations.
Agree
And there are plenty of examples around the world of how this has worked well, Paris immediately comes to mind.
Proper T Etiquette
Elevators are for pissing
Bathrooms are for shooting up
Some Bathrooms are for sex
Fare Gates are suggestions
Walls are for aerosal artists
Train Surfing is considered a sport
Skate boarding down platforms is cool
Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert Weighs In
Subway elevator comments start at about 4:22 in this clip. Watch to the end for the other current Boston news story-Chris Evans' accent.
https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/rnXJ0HTVBFsbDfSYuffPyA4O_5RnQlD_/
The Republican solution:
It's just like guns. The only way to fight pee is more pee.
(Yeah, it makes no sense for guns either.)