SAN FRANCISCO PIT STOP
Where neighborhood challenges meet civic pride.
PIT STOP SERVICES




Universal Toilet Access
Safe Used Needle Disposal
Pet Waste Bags
NEIGHBORHOODS
You can find permanent Pit Stops in 23 locations around San Francisco.
In addition, during the COVID-19 public health emergency, another 14 staffed portable Pit Stops are temporarily available to augment the program.
LOCATIONS AND HOURS
HIGHLIGHTED LOCATIONS ARE TEMPORARY PUBLIC TOILETS AVAILABLE
FOR THE COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
Bayview-Hunters Point
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Mendell Plaza – Open 24 hours
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2111 Jennings St. – Open 24 hours
Castro
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Market and Castro streets (JCDecaux) – Open 24 hours
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Market and Church streets (JCDecaux) – Daily – 7am to 7pm
Civic Center
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Grove and Larkin streets (JCDecaux) - Daily – 7am to 7pm
The Embarcadero
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Embarcadero Plaza (JCDecaux) - Daily – 7am to 7pm
Haight
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Stanyan and Waller streets (JCDecaux) – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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Lower Polk
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Myrtle and Larkin streets (JCDecaux) – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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Mid-Market
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Hallidie Plaza (JCDecaux) – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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U.N. Plaza (JCDecaux) – Open 24 hours
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U.N. Plaza (near fountain) – Daily – 7am to 7pm*
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Mission
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16th and Capp streets – Mon-Fri – 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
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16th and Mission streets (JCDecaux) – Open 24 hours
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18th and Mission streets – Mon-Fri – 12 pm to 7 pm
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24th and Mission streets (JCDecaux) – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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21st St. and Shotwell St. – Open 24 hours
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344 14th St. – Open 24 hours
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1645 Bryant St. – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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3100 26th St. – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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Cesar Chavez and South Van Ness Ave. – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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SFGH, near SE corner of Building 25 – Open 24 hours
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SFGH, near SE corner of Building 80/90 – Open 24 hours
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885 Potrero Ave. – Mon-Fri – 6:30 am to 2:30 pm
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North Beach
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Washington Square at Union St. (JCDecaux) – Daily – Daily – 7am to 7pm
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Ocean Beach
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Great Highway near Beach Chalet – Mon-Fri – 11am to 6pm
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Outer Sunset
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Judah and La Playa streets (Rec Park) – Daily – 8am to 8pm
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SoMa
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6th and Jessie streets – Open 24 hours
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Victoria Manalo Draves Park (Rec Park) – Daily – 8am to 8pm
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5th and Bryant streets (Brannan St. by the parking lot gate inside the striped parking area on 5th St.) – Open 24 hours*
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Tenderloin
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133 Golden Gate Ave. – Open 24 hours
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101 Hyde St. – Open 24 hours
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Eddy and Jones streets (JCDecaux) – Open 24 hours
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388 Ellis St. – Open 24 hours
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Eddy and Larkin streets – Open 24 hours
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439 O’Farrell St. – Open 24 hours
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180 Jones St. (two units) – Open 24 hours
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Western Addition
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Turk St. and Fillmore St. – Open 24 hours
THE PIT STOP STORY
San Francisco Public Works’ pioneering Pit Stop program provides clean and safe public toilets, as well as used-needle receptacles and dog waste stations, in San Francisco's most impacted neighborhoods. All the Pit Stop facilities are staffed by paid attendants who help ensure that the bathrooms are well maintained and used for their intended purpose.
The units have running water, soap and hand towels, and are maintained to a standard where parents and guardians would feel comfortable bringing their children.
The program began in San Francisco’s Tenderloin in 2014 at three sites, sparked by a plea from neighborhood middle schoolers who were fed up with having to carefully navigate around human waste on their walk to school. Today, the Pit Stop operates at 48 sites in 13 neighborhoods. Street-cleaning data drives the locations of the Pit Stops, putting them where they’re needed most.
The popular program, which was recognized by Harvard Kennedy School for innovation and serves as a national model deployed by other cities, provides an alternative to using our streets and sidewalks as a toilet.
The result:
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People can take care of their bathroom needs with dignity
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Neighborhoods are made more livable
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Complaints about human waste in public spaces around the Pit Stop locations have gone down, which allows Public Works public cleaning crews to focus more attention on other hotspots.
Public Works manages the Pit Stop program. Four nonprofits are under contract to staff them: Civic, Hunters Point Family, Mission Neighborhood Centers and Urban Alchemy. JCDecaux funds the staffing for nine locations in the program.
IN THE NEWS
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4/7/2020 - Press Release - Mayor London Breed Announces Rollout of New Staffed Public Toilets and Hand-Washing Stations in High-Need Neighborhoods
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11/27/2019 - SF Chronicle - Editorial: Tackling San Francisco’s poop problem for good
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9/25/2019 - SF Chronicle - SF’s 24-hour public bathrooms show promise in keeping feces off streets
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6/19/2019 - SF Examiner - SF Public Works to test 24-hour public bathroom in the Tenderloin6/
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5/31/2019 - SF Curbed - SF pledges $8.6 million for more toilets
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12/30/2018 - SF Chronicle - Reformed prisoners give back, save lives by monitoring SF’s public restrooms
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4/19/2018 - SF Chronicle - SF Tenderloin toilet monitor honored for life-saving actions
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3/5/2018 - SF Gate - Pit Stop Public Toilet Program Expands To Lower Polk Neighborhood
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3/5/2018 - S.F. Weekly - S.F. Slowly Expands Pit Stop Toilet Program
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3/5/2018 - Press Release - Pit Stop Public Toilet Program Expands to Ninth Neighborhood
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11/22/2017 - NPR - Just Look At These Fancy Port-A-Potties
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11/21/2017 - LA Times - Posh 'Painted Lady' portable toilets roll onto San Francisco streets
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11/20/2017 - Hoodline - 'Painted Lady' Pit Stop Portable Toilet Debuts In Upper Haight
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11/20/2017 - ABC 7 - San Francisco marking World Toilet Day with 'Painted Lady Pit Stop' potties
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11/20/2017 - Press Release - Public Works Rolls Out New 'Painted Lady' Public Toilet
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11/20/2017 - Curbed SF - Take a seat inside new ‘Painted Ladies’-style toilets
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11/20/2017 - KTVU - San Francisco's ‘Painted Lady' pit stops debut on World Toilet Day
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11/20/2017 - SF Chronicle - SF’s newest rolling toilets are an homage to the Painted Ladies
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11/20/2017 - NBC Bay Area - 'Painted Lady' Portable Restroom to Be Unveiled in San Francisco
- 6/15/2016 - Press Release - San Francisco Expands Successful Pit Stop Public Toilet Program
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9/2/2015 - ABC 7 - City hires workers to patrol public potties on San Francisco streets
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9/2/2015 - KRON 4 - Video: San Francisco to man public restrooms with attendants
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9/1/2015 - SF Chronicle - City’s latrine team tries to keep public toilets tolerable
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8/22/2015 - SF Chronicle - Amid rising disgust, S.F. scrambles to flush stench from streets
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6/30/2015 - KQED News - If You Build It, They Will Go: Sparkling New Street Toilet Arrives in the Mission
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6/22/2015 - Hoodline - Two Months In, Pit Stop Pilot Program In SoMa Is Going Strong
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6/3/2015 - NBC Bay Area - Public Toilets in the Mission Staffed With Bathroom Attendants
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6/3/2015 - SF Bay - ‘Pit Stop’ restroom opens at 16th and Mission
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6/3/2015 - Press Release - New Pit Stop Public Toilet Opens at 16th and Mission Streets
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5/21/2015 - Capp Street Crap - What a relief! City working to boost bathroom options near 16th and Mission
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4/21/2015 - SF Examiner - Public toilets expanding to SoMa
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4/21/2015 - Press Release - Successful Public Toilet Program Expands to the South of Market
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4/11/2015 - Bend Bulletin - Toilets on wheels help keep Bay Area neighborhood clean
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4/8/2015 - The Petrelis Files - Pit Stop Toilet Coming to BART's 16th Street Plaza
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4/8/2015 - ABC News - Toilets on Wheels Help Keep San Francisco Neighborhood Clean
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4/8/2015 - Fox News - Solar-powered portable toilets on wheels helping to keep San Francisco neighborhood clean
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1/27/2015 - Press Release - Supervisors Vote to Extend and Expand Public Toilet Project
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1/27/2015 - LA Times - San Francisco port-a-potty program offers homeless privacy, normality
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1/15/2015 - CBS Local - SF Gets More Than $203,000 To Solve Longtime Problem Of Human Feces On Streets
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1/14/2015 - SF Examiner - Money secured to extend public toilet program in Tenderloin, SoMa