A public experiment that was better in theory than in practice: "In the end, the restrooms, installed in early 2004, had become so filthy, so overrun with drug abusers and prostitutes, that although use was free of charge, even some of the city’s most destitute people refused to step inside them."

Quoted: After spending $5 million, Seattle officials decided to close the city’s five automated public toilets, which had become filthy and costly.