For your Friday reading, three short Metro stories that didn't quite rise to the level of full posts.
Metro Throne Toilets Are Astonishingly Easy to Use
I had seen Metro's new Throne toilets around, but avoided using them. I didn't want to download an app, fill in personal information, list a credit card, set a password, accept terms of service, etc. Then last week I tried one - and it was much easier than I anticipated.
It's basically two-click service. You do need a smartphone. Scan the QR code, then send one text message and you're in. No app, no filling out anything. I got in in 10-15 seconds. It's very very easy.
The bathroom was clean, in good working order. It plays music (that appeared to gradually get slightly louder) inside, and you only have ten minutes before you're supposed to exit.
Metro recently published a new map of the 24 Throne "smart bathrooms" currently installed at Metro Stations. Metro plans to up this to 64 locations by 2028.
Metro announced five recently installed Throne bathrooms at stations: Atlantic (E Line), Chatsworth (G Line), Crenshaw (C Line), Redondo Beach (K Line) and Slauson (J Line).
You can download the Throne App to find bathroom locations.
Metro Bike-Share Contract Extended Month-to-Month
"Due to the unique circumstances associated with the current procurement, it is uncertain as to when the new contract will be awarded" reads the latest Metro staff report on the future of Metro Bike Share. Those unique circumstances include a twice-botched process where Metro clumsily tried to hand the system to Lyft.
Last month the Metro board approved a staff recommendation to authorize month-by-month extensions for the current system operator, Bicycle Transportation Systems, to run Metro Bike Share through May 2026.
Metro did not award the bike-share contract to BTS, the one responsive bidder not involved in repeated procurement malfeasance. Metro is instead teeing up a third procurement, confining its current bike-share operations to an uneasy limbo, not conducive to planning and expansion.
Another Driver Crashes into El Monte Bike Hub
Reader Emily Velasco informs SBLA that the El Monte Metro Bike Hub appears to have been damaged again by a motorist plowing into it.
A driver crashed into that same Bike Hub in late 2022. It took Metro about two years to repair, reopening in late 2024 or early 2025. Now it's closed again.
