E-map of toilets almost a disservice  

深圳推公廁電子地圖 市民看地圖找廁所差點尿褲子

(ECNS) -- An e-map designed to guide people to nearby public restrooms in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, actually do a disservice to its users, according to sznews.com.

The map was made available online by the city's urban management bureau. But the image scale of the e-map is too large, so it's difficult to find the toilets.

A reporter who tried the e-map almost wet his pants as it took him nearly 20 minutes to find a toilet, finally with the help of some passers-by, not the e-map.

"Though it is good news that the government wants to offer more convenience in our daily lives, the map is actually not users-friendly, since you can't carry a PC all the time," said a resident surnamed Chen.

Mobile users who want to find nearby public restrooms on the map have to download the map on a computer, and transfer it to a mobile phone.

Some users complained that even after being transferred to a mobile device, the map still can't help when you feel the urgency to find a toilet, since the offline map without GPS can't show the exact location of the restrooms.

To improve on the map, the bureau has been developing an electronic public restroom information system that will guide mobile phone users to nearby restrooms. The system is expected to be completed this year.