ATLANTA — As thousands of World Cup fans visit metro Atlanta, a new Georgia State University study suggests finding a public restroom may be a challenge.

Researchers looked at public restroom access in 15 high-pedestrian traffic areas across metro Atlanta, including Centennial Olympic Park, downtown near Georgia State University’s campus and the area around Ponce City Market.

“As we are in the midst of the World Cup it seems even more obvious,” Georgia State University Assistant Professor April Ballard said.

Ballard said researchers focused on places where people are most likely to need public restrooms.

“Area’s where we see a lot of pedestrians and/or tourists just thinking about where you might be out and about and need a bathroom,” Ballard said.

The study found that more than half of the public restrooms surveyed were inaccessible.

“Many of the locations were inaccessible because there either was no public bathroom, the door was locked, or access was restricted,” Ballard said.

Ballard said access to public restrooms is an important public health issue.

“Public bathrooms are really an essential but often overlooked piece of public health infrastructure you need access to, to participate in our daily lives,” Ballard said.

The study also found privately funded restrooms were more common than government-funded restrooms, making up 57% of the locations surveyed.

WSB Radio’s Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.