Houston Airport System officials are testing a pilot program to enhance restroom efficiency at the airports. The Smart Restroom program is being tested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at restrooms near D9 and A17 and at William P. Hobby Airport near gates 29 and 30.

Devices are placed right outside the restrooms with two faces that indicate the customer’s satisfaction level of their restroom experience: happy or sad.  If the customer chooses a sad face, a second screen is displayed so that the passenger can indicate what issues exist, such as: dirty stalls, wet floor, no toilet paper and more. Smart Restroom uses a variety of technologies to streamline restroom operations. As a division of the Infax TRAX® solution, Smart Restroom uses TRAX sensors to monitor passenger throughput into individual airport restrooms. Once a restroom’s set passenger threshold is met, the solution automatically alerts the appropriate custodial staff that it needs to be cleaned.

“Passengers have repeatedly told us through customer survey results that clean and modern restroom facilities rank at or near the top of their priority list,” said Aviation Director Mario Diaz.  “This pilot program is proof that we’re hearing that message and working hard to meet their expectations.  By combining the hard work of our dedicated staff and this impressive technical tool, we’re confident that this pilot program will result in a greatly enhanced overall customer experience.”

The technology launched in January and will continue to be evaluated over the next few months with plans to roll them out at additional locations.