There Will be More Street Poop Without Pit Stop Funding

Back in Ancient Rome, people shat side by side. Those were the good ol’ days, when we were a real community… Ok, if you’re disgusted by the idea of being able to look over to your left and right and have a conversation while your bowels release, you might be willing to hear out the people at the People’s Budget Coalition. 

Earlier this week, the People’s Budget Coalition sent out a call to Mayor London Breed to release something else: Funding for 24-hour Pit Stops. These are essentially public toilets, but they have a bit of extra staffing. The program is lauded, having set the tone for other major cities. Now there’s a chance to bejewel the toilet program once more.

What Are Pit Stops?

Why not use porta potties? Well, we already have the Pit Stops installed. The toilets are universal, meaning they have “flexible toilet design useable by both individuals with disabilities and the general population. [This] removes the social stigma of handicapped facilities.” Their design focuses on ease, but it also maximizes space, taking up less than what a handicap stall might take. Pit Stops in San Francisco also have dog waste stations and needle disposal. 

The staffing ensures they are clean and operable. But not only that: Pit Stops happen to provide workforce development and experience to folks who need it the most. And just like toilet talk, it builds community, connection, and camaraderie. 

Midnight Poops at Pit Stops

The operation and cleanliness is key. After all, what good is a public restroom if it’s too filthy or clogged? Might as well just do your business on the sidewalk. Which is exactly the public sanitation problem San Francisco is chided for most often in the media. Remember the infamous (and flawed) Brown Map?

A HoneyBucket still requires maintenance and passive security (a lock, a camera, a patrolling officer or security guard who only passes once a shit shift, sorry). Many cafes and businesses don’t allow non-paying customers to use their facilities. Rec & Parks restrooms are typically only open from dawn to dusk, and the human bladder and bowels don’t know the difference between sunlight and starlight. 

Where Pit Stops Are Installed

In the 2010s, when The City first explored the option, they determined where to put Pit Stops based on these criteria:

• Proximity to soup kitchens 
• Walking survey of feces 
• Public Works street cleaner feedback 
• 311 human waste requests

Now the People’s Budget Coalition press release earlier this week says The City isn’t adjusting according to the most recent Point in Time counts that show how our city’s homeless population has been forced into other neighborhoods. In particular, they say, “the Bayview neighborhood which saw the largest increase in homelessness, 78% according to the 2024 SF Point in Time count, has only one Pit Stop.” 

Shitting With Dignity

Pit Stops are not about whether you think homeless people should live on one street or another. They’re about being able to do your business in a dignified way. There are 30 officially, according to a map from SFDPW (the Department of Public Works), but only three are staffed full-time.

So why are they not already funded to run 24/7? Believe it or not, The City already agreed to it in June. But now comes the dreaded add-backs process.

What Are Addbacks?

Addbacks are the devil. They’re supposedly a way for the community to advocate for funding that got slashed in the mayor’s approved budget, but that also means that advocates must tangle themselves up with supervisors and hope that someone inside City Hall will speak up for them. And then it’s up to the departments to actually slosh through this shitty situation and spend the dollars.

In June, the Board of Supes added back nearly $60 million. Now the People’s Budget Coalition is desperately seeking press coverage and continued pressure to make sure the politicians’ promises are seen through to the bitter end. 

Coming Down the Pipe

According to a press release from this summer, “The coalition is planning a series of escalating actions throughout September, including a major rally at City Hall on September 25th, to demand that the Mayor unlock the funds and provide the support that was promised to San Francisco’s families.”

For most of us humans, there’s no clock telling us when it’ll be Poo-Thirty. Let’s see if The City recognizes that fact of biology.