The uncomfortable smell of urine is over, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority hopes to face the problem of people peeing in the system’s elevators with a new program and technology.
The MBTA, which serves Boston and surrounding areas, has launched a pilot program this summer that includes placing sensors on four downtown elevators.
The sensors will alert customer service personnel, who may send out a cleanup crew, according to the Boston Herald.
Sensors installed on the ceiling of an elevator have a fan that allows them to suck in air and “basically smell whatever is present,” said Meghan Collins, director of programs and projects for the MBTA.
The pilot program starts in August. Data will be compiled over several months, and then the agency will decide whether to launch the program at the end of the year, according to the newspaper.
It is not a new concept.
Nearly a decade ago, the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority undertook a pilot program that, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, triggered strobe lights, alarms and police alerts when urine was detected in an elevator.
The elevators were out of service until they were cleaned. That program, considered effective, was later expanded.
The MBTA hopes the program will lessen the problem: Peeing in public is not only unsanitary, it can also damage elevators, Collings said.
