[LarryL]

I'm french, I live near Paris and very often walk in Paris for various reasons (shopping, etc)

The BIG problem is that the automated public (and free, which was not the case before) toilets are NOT numerous enough (400 only according to the article, what a joke!), you have to _search_ for them, even in the very popular -and touristic- areas where I usually roam. But the other, and far worse, problem is that they are SLOOOOOOOOOW!!!! Obviously only one person can use the toilet at a time, then when they exit, the toilet auto-cleans itself, which takes FOREVER, and I mean a good couple of minutes, maybe more. Imagine a line of ten people in front of you (it happens)... You'll have a 30 minutes wait, if not more!

I won't insist on the fact that after the auto-cleaning the toilets are still (understandably) wet on the floor and the toilet seat, which is not the most pleasant thing. But I agree that it's not an easy thing to do. I will also pass quickly on the fact that sometimes you find used needles (left by drug addicts) in the hand washing bowl...

In some of the most touristic places (remember that France is the most visited country in the world, and Paris draws an incredible number of visitors, especially during the holidays), you can see ONE or TWO toilets, and that's it, for thousands of people! That's a total joke.

As for those new urinals, who would want to use those? I don't want to pee in front of everybody, thank you! There are plenty of possible more secluded spots.

The idea of adding more toilets is one thing, and more efficient (and less cumbersome) models compared to the current ones would be a VERY welcome idea, but this solution is in my opinion not well studied. Plus it does not help women (~50% of the public) who also need to use toilets...

And it would also be good if toilets were available in the subway! That's where I've seen the most people take "wild pees" (usually again a wall in the stations), it's the WORST place, it's disgusting.