One of the hardest things to do in a modern city is finding a clean public toilet — and most often, you’re bound to coffee shops or restaurants like McDonalds.
The situation is even harsher in India, where cities like Delhi are struggling to provide the 27 million inhabitants of its metropolitan area with easily accessible and hygienic sanitary utilities. But Google has a solution.
The company is working with India’s Ministry of Urban Development to launch Toilet Locator, which will offer a convenient way to find the quickest way to a clean toilet. The service will be available within Google Maps, and will readily provide suggestions for both restrooms that are located outside as well as in public buildings like hospitals, subway stations and malls.
It will work just like looking for anything else in Google Maps — when the user enters a search for ‘toilet’ or Hindi alternatives like ‘swach’ or ‘swachhata’, the app will point to the nearest lavatory. When upon arrival the location appears to be badly maintained or closed, it’s possible to leave a review so others won’t be disappointed.
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The pilot project will launch on November 15th and run until the 30th, and will first only be available in the National Capital Region of greater New Delhi, with plans to expand to other Indian cities soon.
There’s no word if the functionality will make it to other countries, but it would be a welcome addition for anyone who’s ever walked around for hours, looking for a toilet.
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