Summer is in full swing, and with that comes trips to lakefront beaches, visits to Millennium Park, Italian ice on Taylor Street and neighborhood festivals, not to mention friends and family visiting from out of town, looking for tips to navigate and tour Chicago with ease. Parking to visit popular summer destinations throughout the City of Chicago can be easy and affordable. Chicago Parking Meters LLC offers tips for making summer driving – and summer parking – convenient and cost effective.

Use the internet to plan parking.
The website, chicagometers.com, includes an interactive map, featuring rates, hours and pay box locations. Parkers can quickly search by address and find various options in the area.

Plan ahead and pre-pay for parking to eliminate an extra trip to pay the meter while you could be shopping instead.
Most pay boxes offer pre-payment. Motorists parking at 24-hour meters can generally pre-pay until 10 a.m. unless rush-hour restrictions are in place. At most other meters, pre-pay is offered as early as 5 a.m.

Use it, don’t lose it—remaining time on parking receipts is transferrable.
Receipts purchased at pay boxes are good until expiration at any meter with the same or lower hourly rate zones. Receipts are clearly printed with the rate and expiration time, so motorists can easily determine if their receipts can be used to continue parking. Since the vast majority of meters are located in neighborhoods at the same rate, parkers can take their payment receipts with them as they visit many different locations.