As Memorial Day approaches and summer travel season begins, it may be helpful to know which gas stations and convenience stores have the highest-rated restrooms across the country.
GasBuddy, a smartphone app connecting drivers with their Perfect Pit Stop, compiled a list of the best bathrooms in the nation.
Oklahoma-based QuikTrip flushed the competition for a second year in a row in seven states, which was the most out of any other brands, according to a news release from GasBuddy.
Wawa was second, leading in six East Coast states including Virginia, then came Chevron, Cumberland Farms, Kum & Go, and Maverik each topping the list in three states.
Texas-based Buc-ee’s had the best-rated gas station restrooms in the country.
Pilot Flying J and Kroger made the list of most-frequented restrooms in their many locations across the country.
Oh, no, but where to go?
Clean, quality restrooms are a priority for motorists, according to the study.
According to GasBuddy’s 2018 summer travel survey, 37 percent of respondents said one of their worst fears when road-tripping is the uncertainty of where to stop for a clean restroom.
“We all understand the high level of stress when it comes to needing to use the restroom while on the road. According to our research, more than half of consumers said that a clean restroom is mandatory when considering where to stop,” said Frank Beard, convenience store and retail trends analyst at GasBuddy, in the news release.
“There are a couple of surprise winners in this year’s top-rated restroom results, which only further proves that consumers are taking note of brands that go the extra mile to keep their facilities sparkling.”
Clean bathrooms mean business
It's also good for business.
Gas stations with above-average restroom ratings on GasBuddy saw a 33 percent increase in foot traffic compared to those with below-average ratings, according to the release.
GasBuddies have written millions of reviews covering more than 140,000 retail locations where gasoline is sold. Consumers can review gas stations and their restrooms directly in the free GasBuddy app.
More than 33.4 million trips reviewed
GasBuddy and Cuebiq, a location intelligence and measurement company, released the quarterly joint study examining foot traffic of GasBuddy users to more than 100 fuel and convenience stores across the country in the third quarter of 2017. This latest trend report looked at summertime trends across the US and how seasonality impacted offline consumer behaviors.
GasBuddy examined more than 33.4 million trips to gas stations and stores.
The companies analyzed anonymous geo-behavioral patterns of GasBuddy’s app users, which allowed them to gain insights into users’ offline behavior including frequency of station visits, fueling patterns, how long they spend at a location and brand loyalty, and offered recommendations to make these insights actionable for retailers.
