Friday Funny: Pee Odor in Transit Elevator Got You Down?

The good news for users of Atlanta’s transit elevators can’t come soon enough, explains John Bachman of WSB-TV, Atlanta in this newscast about the new program deployed by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).

The olfactory problem is "about to change with first-of-its-kind technology which catches 'offenders' literally -- with their pants down," he explains in the newscast. It all comes down to the "splash factor".

credit: WSBTV - Atlanta

Standing in an elevator, MARTA Director of Elevators/Escalators Tom Beebe tells Bachman (with a straight face) how UDD works. "If somebody was to urinate in here, there's going to be a splash factor. It would splash and it [camera points to UDD in elevator] would sense," Beebe said.

Bachman explains that “if a person relieves her or himself, the sensors sound the alarm and the MARTA police will be there in seconds to catch the offender in the act.”

The pilot program has been in place for a month, and that daily problem dropped to one incident, in which an arrest was made. 

The cost: $10,000 per UDD - which MARTA can probably recoup in reduced maintenance costs. But for their transit customers who use the elevators, it may be priceless if it solves the problem.