Chicagoans Could Be Able To Get Guest Parking Passes Online
By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Jul 20, 2016 8:16PM
The dreaded trek to the City Clerk's office to stock up on temporary street parking permits for guests could be a thing of the past if City Clerk Susana Mendoza gets her way. Mendoza introduced a measure at Wednesday's City Council meeting that would allow residents to obtain virtual guest parking passes online instead of in person.
The system would work much like the popular ParkChicago app in that it would monitor whether cars were parked legally within their zones via their license plates. Pricing for the virtual sheets of guest passes would be the same price as the real thing, $8. If the council adopts Mendoza's pilot plan, her office says the program could be up and running in at least one ward this fall.
Making it easier for friends to park nearby when they crash on your couch wasn't the only parking inconvenience Mendoza tackled at Wednesday's meeting. The clerk also introduced an ordinance that would reduce city sticker fees. Motorists currently need to pay a $20 transfer fee to move their sticker to a new vehicle, for instance. Under Mendoza's plan, that payment would drop to $5. Other fees like the one required if a city sticker is lost or a resident changing parking zones would also be significantly lowered.
While some suggest Mendoza's sucking up to drivers could be related to her run for state office (Mendoza is the democratic candidate for state comptroller), we're just glad somebody's doing something about the parking situation in this city. For those of us who still have cars at all.