Show HN: I made a porta potty finder for tradesmen | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: I made a porta potty finder for tradesmen

spotapot.vercel.app

28 pointshairunhuang20 comments

For general public restrooms, you can also search OpenStreetMap for amenity=toilet and access=yes (which means explicitly open to the public; see also access=customers). Try it: https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1ORn

Overpass Turbo is a great tool to search for bbq spaces, campsites, etc.

Can't imagine living without it.

Always wondered why Google has not done anything similar.

cool! thanks for the recommendation

What is the "founding story" of this? I am extremely intrigued what triggered you to make this or just an idea that popped to you?

Not American but I've noticed a huge uptick in Americans complaining that public toilets are no longer available in the last ~six months

One data point, but the building housing bathrooms in the local park has been closed for renovations for a very, very long time. Now there are two porta potties instead. They stink like hell but I do see them get pumped out by a truck occasionally.

I don't know if the renovation delay is classic lowest bidder contractor failure, grift, by design, or some combination. Anyway, no running water for people sleeping outside in my neighborhood.

American here. I don’t really go anywhere anymore, but ducking into a McDonalds, Home Depot, or any major chain has always been an easy bathroom option. I don’t think this has changed, unless drastic changes have happened in some major cities. I’m not in those cities.

The only change I've noticed more recently is more places that you described (especially fast food) has started to add door codes. Easy enough to ask an employee for the code though.

its the good kind of all shitty ideas

i worked in construction. always had this struggle when working in remote areas (residential jobs)

Grocery stores are good places to find a rest room.

yes. all the common sense places, groceries, mcdonalds, parks, gas stations. but I built this with tradesmen in mind coz I was one. I often went to remote areas doing decking, siding, fencing. usually about half an hour drive to a town center or some sort. so a porta potty finder in this case would be helpful.

How did you get the data points for the potties?

Likely OSM

One of these sites seems to exist for Toronto, that website has a form for people to get the map updated.

Just a quick feedback. The poop icon reminds me of the shit-map(don’t remember the exact name) someone created to show where people shat on the streets

my friend said the same thing. is it the arcgis one?

they are dummy data. i need people contribute to this.

looks like an "uber for pooping". i like it

You can just let them use the one in your house.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com