Of the functioning public toilets, only 23 are available free of charge.
Activists of The City is for All (A Város Mindenkié – AVM) undertook to walk to all the public toilets of Budapest, and their conclusions paint a rather bleak picture. According to their announcement, a quarter of the 128 public toilets in Budapest that were listed is closed, ruined, and non-functioning. Based on their research, there are currently 91 functioning public toilets in Budapest. 23 of them can be used free of charge; the others are usually available for a fee of HUF 180-250, writes hvg.hu.
The announcement notes that the districts’ municipalities maintain public toilets mainly by considering tourism aspects and adapting to public transport hubs. There are several municipalities that do not operate any public toilets. According to AVM,
at least 150 free and accessible public toilets open 24/7 would be needed in Budapest.
They also point out that most of the public toilets currently functioning are unaffordable for families living in poverty and homeless people. According to the group, the problem of public toilets in the capital can be considered solved if everyone, regardless of their income situation, has the opportunity to use the services.
They sent their proposals concerning public toilets to the Budapest Municipality and to all of Budapest’s district municipalities.
Since there are few options to go to the toilet, it may be important to know where a toilet is closest in a certain location. A new app was developed by a high school in Zugló which can be used to find the nearest public toilet in Budapest. The application called Budipest was created by Dániel Gergely, a student of Petrik Lajos Technical School. He revealed that he had long wanted to create such an app. He said
he believes that such civic initiatives make Budapest a greater city.
Budipest shows not only public toilets but also units that allow the use of the restrooms regardless of consumption.
By not having reasonable public facilities some, particularly the “street people”/”homeless” will use public parks, or simply the sidewalks … as done in the US in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), or New York City. No long ago I was waiting for bus and a person (high?, drunk?) went to urinate on a street light pole and instead soaked my leg.
By not having reasonable public facilities some, particularly the “street people”/”homeless” will use public parks, or simply the sidewalks … as done in the US in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), or New York City. No long ago I was waiting for bus and a person (high?, drunk?) went to urinate on a street light pole and instead soaked my leg.
This is the second article on this subject to appear in the Daily News Hungary, in the past 14 months.
They should just be and seen as part of the make up of a City, that are not there solely for the use of citizens but tourist.
There is a public Health reason why they should exist and not to put this reason as an important factor would be wrong.
Does need bit of a re-think by the authority responsible for general public “wee wee ” facilities and the apparent need to either refurbish or build new public toilets to ensure the avoidance of accidents happening or having to go in places that could cause personal embarrassment.
I am in Budapest every year and I have learned 1, not to drink much liquids before heading out. 2, have some coins for those restrooms requiring a fee. 3, eat lunch in restaurants with toilets for customers.
I have visited and traveled all over Hungary a few times. I had to resort urinating in public, behind buildings, between parked cars, behind bushes many times. This is not a problem only in Budapest, but all over Hungary. This is capitalism at work in Hungary, you have to pay to use public toilets in Hungary. This can be a big problem if you have urination issues