[英语阅读]威尼斯推出公厕一卡通

Venice goes online to ease toilet pay pain

意大利水城威尼斯推出一项服务，游客可在因特网上提前购买公厕“一卡通”，方便在威尼斯如厕。较以往支付现金如厕的做法，公厕“一卡通”更便宜、便捷。这种卡片将于2月1日起发售，游客必须在使用前15日购买。威尼斯每年迎接大约2000万名游客。一些没带零钱的游客常常遭遇如厕难的尴尬，一些人干脆在街道上“解决问题”。威尼斯市政府希望公厕“一卡通”有助于解决这些问题。

 

 

A man leaves a public toilet a few days before a new online payment system takes effect in Venice January 27, 2009.

Instead of paying the current 1 euro fee to get into a public bathroom, tourists who think ahead can get one week or day passes to the bathrooms online.

Visitors can pay 7 euros online for 10 toilet visits over 5 days in high season, and 5 euros in the low tourist season.

For a regular toilet card, bought at a bathroom or other site, the corresponding costs are 9 euros and 7 euros.

The online day rate for 2 visits is 1 euro in low season, 2 euros in thehigh season. Otherwise, the card costs 1.50 euros and 3 euros respectively.

"For people who want some security, who don't want to go into a bar to buy a coffee or a roll, so they can go to the bathroom, this is a solution," a Venice city spokesman said.

The online bathroom pass is accessible starting February 1 as part of the city's Venice Connected card which gives Access to various services and allows reservations online. The purchase has to be made at least 15 days before use.

City residents pay 25 euro cents per visit to the public bathrooms.

The pass is another attempt by Venice, which hosts about 20 million visitors a year, to deal with tourists who use the streets as urinals.

Tourists, who face "no toilet" signs at many restaurants and cafes, were in favor of the move.

"I'm not used to paying to go to the toilet anyway, but if you haven't got a coin on you, but you need to go to the toilet, you have the card ready to go," said Zoe Dawson, a 20-year old bar waitress from Surrey in England.

Vocabulary:

low season: 淡季

high season: 旺季