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posted by cmn32480 on Monday July 17 2017, @06:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-a-shitty-business dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Two queueing theorists of Ghent University investigated why queues at restrooms are invariably longer for ladies than for men. Time and time again. What are the main causes for this disparity? And how can it be overcome? Moving to unisex toilets, it appears from this study, may reduce waiting times for women from over 6 minutes to less than a minute and a half. Already a symbol for transgender equality, unisex toilets can hence boast excellent figures when it comes to reducing waiting times. Or, how transgender-friendliness may help in battling female-unfriendly toilet culture.

It turns out there are three main causes for the difference in waiting time between men and women. A first factor explaining why women wait longer is that the net number of toilets for women is smaller than that for men. This is because the total surface area is often divided equally while a toilet cabin inevitably takes up more space than a urinal. Overall, an average toilet area can accommodate 20 to 30 percent more toilets for men (urinals + cabins) than for women.

A second reason is that according to scientific studies women spend one and a half up to two times as long on the toilet. The reasons are mostly practical. In contrast to a urinal, a door must be opened and closed twice, a toilet seat needs cleaning, and more and more difficult clothes have to be taken off and on. This results in an average time spent at the toilet of 1 minute for men and 1 minute and 30 seconds for women.

A third factor is the overall activity at the restroom. As long as it's not too busy, the overall effect of ladies having a smaller number of toilets and spending more time on those toilets does not lead to long queues. However when for example everybody heads home, more women arrive at the toilets than the system can handle. This condition amplifies the above effects and results in outrageous waiting times for women.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2017-07-lengths-restroom.html


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:32PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:32PM (#540507)

    Over-regulation is a big part of the problem. Without the burden of laws and regulations, people could plumb restrooms however they pleased. There wouldn't be a government-enforced monopoly on water and sewer "services" (Mafia2O). People could use whichever restroom the owners allowed them in. Some owners would check the birth certificate and some wouldn't. And the defecators who couldn't afford the admission price they could just defecate where they stand.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:40PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:40PM (#540511)

    You forgot to mention, the disabled can just shit in their own wheelchairs, because we ain't gonna build doors and stalls to accommodate them.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:47PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2017, @07:47PM (#540517)

      Owners can build snowflake zones if they want to. Wheelchairs can have a hole. Freedom!

    • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday July 17 2017, @11:57PM (1 child)

      by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday July 17 2017, @11:57PM (#540643)

      You forgot to mention, the disabled can just shit in their own wheelchairs, because we ain't gonna build doors and stalls to accommodate them.

      Actually, I'm OK with this, as long as we're consistent about the lack of regulation: the disabled should be able to just shit or piss on the floor if the business owner is too much of an asshole to put a handicap-accessible restroom in, and there should be no legal repercussions to the disabled person.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @05:07PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @05:07PM (#541021)

        Grishnakh gets it!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @12:07AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @12:07AM (#540650)

      Without government regulations every bathroom will be occupied by a permanently leaving in there whore. That' why there are almost no outdoor toilets in NYC.