30% of traffic in cities is caused by drivers looking for curbside parking. I estimate that an average driver in Chicago spends at least 3-4 minutes looking for a street parking spot. Over the course of a year, in the Chicago business district, I estimate drivers travel 700,000 miles, burn 36,500 gallons of fuel and emit 567 tons of carbon dioxide just looking for parking.

Drivers traveling to Chicago have two primary options for parking their car in the city. They can look for street parking or find a Chicago parking garage (topic of my next blog entry).

Chicago parkers searching for street parking need to pay close attention to parking restrictions that can vary by time, days, holidays and special events. Many streets, particularly in the business district, do not allow street parking. Streets that do allow parking are most commonly metered and can have rush hour restrictions from 7-9am and 4-6pm to reduce traffic congestion from cars entering and exiting the city. The meters are typically valid from 8am to 7pm, although there are some meters that are enforced until 9pm or even 24 hours. Outside of these restrictions, drivers can find periods of time to park for free. There are also streets that have free parking all day but they can be difficult to find. ParkingAnyTime.com makes it easy for drivers to locate street parking options.

Outside of the business district, in Chicago neighborhoods such as Streeterville (Gold Coast), Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville (home of the Chicago Cubs) and South Loop (home of the Chicago Bears and soldier field), many streets are permitted during part of the day or all day. The permits can only be purchased by residents living in the area. Some permits are only enforced during Cubs games, Soldier Field events and other special occasions. The season and weather also have an impact on Chicago Parking options. During summer and fall, street cleaning is in effect on certain days. On such days, the street must be free of all cars. Otherwise, you will find yourself making a $50 donation to the parking police. Additionally, during snow fall, certain streets have no parking restrictions while on other streets you cannot park at all during peak winter months.

After you have navigated the complex maze of parking restrictions and located a street with parking, be considerate of segments of street that can be loading zones, handicap parking or for valet use only.

After personally logging in over 100 hours of driving and recording parking rules on Chicago streets, I have found that there exists plenty of low cost parking options in Chicago. The trick is to find them. ParkingAnyTime.com helps you to find those streets and garages; thereby saving you time and gas while making a small contribution to keeping our environment green.

- Saqib, Founder & CEO of ParkingAnyTime