Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is no longer tolerating public urination in their transit system elevators.
Through the installation of a urine detection device (UDD), any splatter of urine will set off alarms and alert police to get to the elevator and catch the peeing perpetrators. Improved lighting and cameras will also be installed to record offenders.
The elevators have doubled as restrooms for years and have a malodorous reputation. Director of Elevators for MARTA Tom Beebe confessed, “If you’ve ever been in a Porta Potty, that’s what it smelled like before.” Beebe is on a mission to improve MARTA’s image and eliminate the dreadful odor that greets Atlanta elevator riders.
One rider, Alicia Porta, said, “The smell hits you so bad. You hold your breath just to hurry up and get off the elevator.”
So far the pilot program has installed a UDD device in only one elevator, but the results have been stellar. The problem has been reduced to one incident, resulting in an arrest.
The new program is not cheap, however. It will cost $10,000 to furnish each elevator with a UDD. With 111 elevators, that is a lot to pay on pee.