Just in time for the busy spring break travel season, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and Tooshlights announced April 4, a pilot program of smart restrooms in one of Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) terminals. The patented technology helps passengers navigate busy bathrooms and will now light the way for them in American Airlines’ Terminal 4.
LAX and Tooshlights are also working with Infax, the data-driven provider of innovative IT solutions for airports and other public venues, which works in conjunction with Tooshlights to play a leading role in the smart restroom transformation. Tooshlights provides Infax with real-time venue-specific data that allows airport officials to track the occupancy usage of restroom stalls.
“We’re incredibly excited to try out this new technology, which should help improve our guest experience and allow us to better monitor and service our restrooms,” said Barbara Yamamoto, chief experience officer at LAWA. “The desire for clean and available restrooms is consistently in the top ranks of what guests want at an airport, and this will help us provide a higher level of service to the traveling public and allow us to better meet our strategic goal of delivering facilities and guest experiences that are exceptional.”
The new smart restroom technology being deployed at LAX combines cutting-edge technological innovation with a unique design aesthetic to solve the critical problems of cleanliness and efficiency of public restrooms. According to an Airport Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Survey, the availability of washrooms/toilets is one of the top five most important items to all LAX guests in 2017.
The LAX smart restroom pilot program of the Tooshlights system includes more than 20 smart restroom stalls, which will work similarly to parking garage lights. Each unit consists of a smart latch and indicator light. When the stall is available, the light is green. When the stall is occupied, and the smart latch activated, the light turns red. There are also blue indicator lights for ambulatory stalls.
“A common problem in facility design is flow of movement, which affects passenger satisfaction,” said Allen Klevens, president and chief executive officer at Modus Systems LLC, the parent company of Tooshlights. “Tooshlights is disrupting the public restroom industry by fixing the efficiency of restrooms, especially in large commercial spaces like airports, where people are pressed for time. We are thrilled that our hometown airport is the first airport in the world to feature Tooshlights.”
LAX is leading the way on technology, by leveraging smart building technology and data analytics to boost operational efficiencies. In addition to the stalls themselves, the Smart Restrooms also have touchscreens near the entrance/exit, for guests to easily provide feedback on the status of the restroom -- and then identify any issues that require a maintenance or custodial response.
“The real-time data that we will be receiving through our new smart restroom technology will help us to respond quicker when issues occur, and gain base-line data for daily and weekly restroom usage, so we can better plan and deploy our resources, including custodians, and maintenance workers,” said Michael Christensen, deputy executive director of the facilities and maintenance group at LAWA. “Just like a physical traffic management system, these smart restrooms will allow us to do our job better and more efficiently.”
If the smart restroom pilot is successful, LAX expects to expand the use of smart restrooms in Terminal 4 and throughout the airport.
“American Airlines is thankful to have such forward thinking partners at LAWA. We share their commitment to creating a world class, 21st century experience for travelers in the City of Angels,” said Jim Moses, American Airlines managing director – LAX. “Innovative ideas that leverage modern technology like this are how we will turn that vision into a reality.”
