The lack of public washroom has been a concern for a long time. City of Burnaby bought up the issue for discussion again and ordered Translink open the non-existent washroom at Metrotown Station.

When the Metrotown Skytrain Station expansion took place, Translink planned a commercial retail unit along with public washroom space beneath the Skytrain Station. The project has been completed in 2017 with space allocated for it. In 2018, the City of Burnaby has officially approved building public washroom at populated Skytrain Stations.

Translink’s original plan was to let the leaseholder of the commercial retail to manage the public washroom, but many years have passed, and the space have yet to be leased. City of Burnaby now wants Translink to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the public washroom.

Translink says the public washroom is not ready for operation as the allocated space is empty. It refused to take responsibility claiming safety and cost issue when it was first proposed. However, I believe Translink should be the one responsible for it as Translink employee would be better at responding if anything does happen and it is on Tranlink’s site. The cost is only a small portion compared to all the expansion it is proposing. The cost incurred from the public washroom could be one reason the spaces couldn’t be leased out.

City of Vancouver also requested Translink to add public washroom to future Millennium Line Broadway Expansion. It is clear that there is strong demand for public washroom and Translink needs to find a way to implement it.