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Fast Company is extending its application deadline for Best Workplaces for Innovators 2025 to Friday, April 4, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. This marks the seventh year Fast Company will be recognizing companies and organizations from around the world that most effectively empower employees at all levels to improve processes, create new products, or invent whole new ways of doing business. In addition to honoring the worlds 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators, we will recognize companies in more than a dozen different categories. What differentiates Best Workplaces for Innovators from existing best-places-to-work lists is that it goes beyond benefits, competitive compensation, and collegiality (mere table stakes in todays competitive talent marketplace) to identify which companies are actively creating and sustaining the kinds of innovative cultures that many top employees value even more than money. With Best Workplaces for Innovators, Fast Company aims to identify companies where employees can do the best work of their careers and improve the lives of hundreds, thousands, even millions of people around the world. For more than a decade, Fast Company has been recognizing outstanding achievement in business innovation with its annual awards programs. In addition to Best Workplaces for Innovators, Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies, Innovation by Design, World Changing Ideas, Brands That Matter, and the Next Big Thing in Tech lists have celebrated thousands of organizations transforming industries and shaping society through paradigm-shifting products, insights, or services. For more information on applying, see the FAQs.� The final deadline to apply is now April 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
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Gerardo Valerio had been looking for a bathroom in Los Angeles Little Tokyo neighborhood for 20 minutes when he stumbled across a blue and white trailer with FREE BATHROOM at the top. At first, he was hesitant to enter the bathroom, which had been installed by the Washington, D.C.-based portable toilet startup Throne. To get in, he had to scan a QR code which pre-loaded a text onto his phone. After sending the text, the door would automatically slide open. What do I text, I need to pee? he jokes. All in all, he says, it was a positive experience: It was pretty to look at but it definitely has a smell to it. It needs to be maintained a bit more. But overall, nice. In Little Tokyo, there are almost no public restroomsin most of the restaurants and shops, you have to buy something first. There should be more, Valerio says. After years of complaints from riders, LA Metro is�rolling out more free public Throne bathrooms�this year at transit stations across L.A. County. The portable, touchless trailers are self-contained, requiring no water or electric hookup. This allows the company to rapidly deploy restrooms wherever neededlike a busy train station. The new location at Little Tokyo station has been particularly popular, with 120 to 150 uses per day during the weekend. Thrones have also been deployed in the D.C. area, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Beverly Hills; and in the Bay area at two�Caltrain stations. View this post on Instagram /div>A post shared by Throne Bathrooms (@thronebathrooms) Built on accountability Throne says its smart bathrooms use accountability to solve the age-old problem of unwanted bathroom activity. Accessing a Throne requires a unique user ID, usually a cell phone number. For those without access to a phone, Throne also distributes key cards through local service providers. [Its] just behavioral science, explains Throne cofounder and COO Jessica Heinzelman. If somebody knows that theyve used their phone to get into a bathroom, theyre treating it a little bit nicer, kind of the same mentality of if you have somebody in line behind you in a regular bathroom. Every user is asked to rate the cleanliness of the Throne and can report any issues via text. Throne uses this feedback to optimize the cleaning schedule which relies on gig laborand rapidly respond to any issues. As of March 1, there have been 425,900 uses nationally, with 168,600 in L.A., and a rating of 4.07 out of five stars. The biggest issue facing public bathrooms in Metro stations has been preventing inappropriate behavior, says Stephen Tu, deputy executive officer of station experience at Metro. Throne bathrooms are cheaper to clean and maintain because problem users can be banned from the system. So far, only 375 people out of 37,144 unique users across the national Throne network have been access-restricted, according to Heinzelman. Last year, after a six-month pilot at four locations, Metro approved a $22 million four-year contract with Throne to provide up to 64 bathrooms. Currently, there are 14 Thrones in the Metro system, with four more set to roll out in April. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Throne Bathrooms (@thronebathrooms) Tapping the gig workforce Some Throne features might be high-tech, but the bathrooms are still cleaned the old-fashioned way: by people, specifically gig workers who sign up to clean specific locations at specific times through an app. It allows us to respond really quickly, while also providing people flexible income opportunities, says Heinzelman. If we had a W-2 workforce, we would probably be able to accomplish a quarter of the cleans in twice the time. Correna T., a public transportation advocate with the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, believes that the bathrooms should be staffed by unionized Metro employees, not gig workers. We would much rather see those jobs go to union employees who have protections and benefits and are staffed publicly, she says. In July of last year, DSA-LA successfully mobilized to push LA Metro to conduct a feasibility study on bringing cleaning staff in-house. Over seven months later, the report is still not out. Next City reached out to Metro for a status update on the report but did not receive a response. Throne declined to provide details about how much a member of the cleaning network is paid per clean, but according to Thrones website, each clean is priced dynamically. There are all sorts of variables to how we are setting clean tasks including when we have two Thrones co-located next to each other (no transit time or transit cost) [plus] the ability to get bonuses for rapid response, says Heinzelman in an email. Workers can receive an extra $15 for extra tough jobs after submitting before-and-after photos that are then confirmed by the company. Thrones top earners are making up to $1,800 per week, says Heinzelman. Having bathrooms is an enormous social service support and health and safety strategy that we wholeheartedly support, says Alfonso Directo, Jr., advocacy director for the Alliance for Community Transit, a coalition of transportation and housing organizations. But ACT-LA would rather see Metro provide stable employment for local residents. Metro, as a public agency with public dollars, could be using those dollars to develop the infrastructure themselves, he says. A temporary fix? Correna T. was initially excited about the Throne bathroom program, but thinks it doesnt go far enough in providing a permanent solution. The bathrooms are portable, not permanent, she points out. Metro doesnt own themThrone does. The contract only extends to 2028the year that L.A. is hosting the summer Olympic games. To DSA-LA, this shows that the Throne partnership is primarily meant to serve tourists during the Olympics. If they dont expand this program past the Olympics, Throne could literally just come in and take them away, and they would no longer be an amenity for the city, she adds. Tu doesnt see the restrooms as necessarily temporary and says the agency has the option to renew the contract at the end of four years. The beauty of its portability allows us to scale very quickly, because to be able to do this with a more traditional approach would take many years to be able to get this at up to 64 locations, he says. LA Metro riders have been requesting bathrooms for decades with little success. The system has only three stations with permanent bathrooms in a system with 107 rail stations and about 12,000 bus stops (the city of Los Angeles has four bathrooms at Metro stations that it maintains separately). Tu says that the challenge with building and maintaining public bathrooms has been not just the capital costs of adding new bathrooms, but also the amount of money needed to staff them and keep them clean. During the pilot, Metro saw a 50% reduction in public urination and defecation incidents at locations where Thrones were deployed. When Next City asked if Metro could use the money saved on maintenance to build permanent bathrooms, Tu repeated that the partnership with Throne allows the agency to roll out multiple bathrooms in a short period of time. He stresses the high rating that Throne has received from users as evidence of the programs success, though he states that Metro is not opposed to exploring other options in the future. The only solution we see in the market right now is the Throne solution, he says. This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit news outlet covering solutions for equitable cities. 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Amtrak has revealed a first look at its new Airo trains, and they come with panoramic windows, comfier chairs, and more accessibility features. The national rail service is currently constructing 83 of the new-and-improved Airo trains, which will operate on around 15 existing routes in the Eastern U.S. and Pacific Northwest. According to a spokesperson, the Airo manufacturing is currently underway at Siemenss Sacramento plant, with testing of the first trains expected to begin in the second half of this year.� By modernizing its fleet with a variety of design improvements, Amtrak is making a play to attract more Americans to train travel instead of flighta step toward its ultimate goal to revitalize Americas passenger rail system and double ridership by 2040. [Image: Amtrak] Nicer seats, bigger views In an announcement released earlier this month, Amtrak revealed a first look at the specs and interiors of its Airo design, and theyre a marked improvement to the rail services existing models. On the inside, new seating offers moveable headrests, a cupholder, bigger and sturdier tray tables, and “plenty of legroom,” per the release. Panoramic windows have been added to let in plenty of light and allow travelers to take in the passing views. And, to make finding your seat simpler, each car will be color-coded based on its class, while each chair will be labeled with an individual number. [Image: Amtrak] More thought has also been given to the trains amenities. In the Airos cafe cars, riders will now have a self-service option rather than waiting in one long line to order from a single attendant. The cafe caras well as the bathrooms, walkways, and vestibuleshas also been modified to allow wheelchair users to navigate more easily. Aesthetically, the Airos staid gray and blue interiors are still lagging far behind the train designs one might find overseaslike in Frances high-speed TGV Inoui model, which looks like a 70s space age mood board. Still, the Airo represents a technological improvement on former Amtrak models in that it can travel up to 125 mph and produces 90% less particulate emissions in diesel operations. Fast Company reached out to Amtrak for more details on the Airos design and environmental impact, and the rail service declined to provide further information at this time. [Image: Amtrak] Its a good time for Amtrak to be investing in new trains, given that some of its old cars are going out of service: Just last week, the rail service announced that it would be suspending its entire Horizon fleet after inspectors uncovered potentially dangerous corrosion on several cars. [Image: Amtrak] Amtraks plan to revitalize Americas rail system The Airo trains, slated to hit tracks in 2026, are the first phase of Amtraks larger plans to refresh its existing fleet and expand its service across the U.S. Last February, former Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner told Fast Company that the U.S. is essentially still operating Victorian railways in the 21st century. Meanwhile countries like France, Japan, Switzerland, and China are moving light-years ahead in terms of their high-speed rail systems (the closest the U.S. has come to high-speed rail is Amtraks Acela route). Amtrak has been working to bring the countrys rail system into the modern era by epanding its routes, enticing younger customers, and, of course, upgrading its trains. So far, its efforts seem to be paying off. In 2024, Amtrak saw a record ridership of 32.8 million passengers, up from 28 million the year before. The rail services ultimate goal is to see 66 million riders by 2040. As Amtrak works to achieve that benchmark, some criticsincluding Elon Muskhave called for the service to be privatized. However, as Fast Company has previously written, such a move could derail the providers expansion plans by raising prices for consumers and even eliminating less profitable routes. In the meantime, if Amtrak is allowed to continue operating under its current structure, a spokesperson predicted that the service is on track to reach operational profitabilityfor the first time in historyduring this administration.
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