Monday, December 22, 2014

Clerk Mendoza, civic hackers and tech developers release first-ever Chicago residential zoned parking maps and applications for motorists

Clerk Mendoza, civic hackers and tech developers release first-ever Chicago residential zoned parking maps and applications for motorists

Unique collaboration helps residents navigate one of the City’s most complicated, and costly, programs

The Office of the Chicago City Clerk Susana A. Mendoza today joined today with technology developers to release the first-ever comprehensive residential parking zone map.

If you have ever tried to park in a neighborhood near U.S. Cellular Field and Wrigley Field, you know the City’s residential parking system can make parking tough for visitors.

Motorists, and their guests, will have a much clearer picture of the entire residential parking zone system starting today, said Clerk Mendoza during a press conference this morning.

More than 200,000 Chicago motorists live in residential parking zones and the system, which not only impacts them on a daily basis, but also impacts each and every family member or guest who visits these resident.

“For more than 20 years, the Office of the Clerk used a big book to track the zones in the City of Chicago. Now this information can be accessed on your cell phone or on your laptop, so you know if you will need a guest pass before you leave your home,” Mendoza said.

“This innovation didn’t cost the City of Chicago a dollar and the goal is to save Chicago motorists thousands of dollars, and hours of frustration, in the coming years.”

The City of Chicago currently has 1,429 active residential parking zones. Each of the 8,004 active zone records – or individually designated blocks – can have their own individual rules the active zones.

These zones cover 20 percent of all residential streets and failure to know the system costs motorists $75.00 for each ticket they receive for illegally parking in a residential zone.

The new map is available at http://chicityclerk.com/city-stickers-parking/about-residential-parking/

Clerk Mendoza was joined on Thursday by Alderman James Cappleman and Alderman Michele Smith as well as 1871 CEO Howard Tullman and Smart Chicago Collaborative CEO Dan O’Neil.

These maps are not only available for the first time, but the data is now available in an accessible format via the City of Chicago Department of Innovation Technology’s Open Data Portal for technology developers and others.

In just a few weeks, local innovators have created products, or enhanced existing applications, that will help renters, guests and motorists.

Follow the links below to access the new residential parking zone maps and view the products created by developers using data sets provided by the Office of the City Clerk and the City of Chicago Department of Innovative Technology.

Smart Chicago Collaborative Residential Parking Zone Map:
http://shua123.github.io/zone-parking/

ParkNav.com Residential Parking Zone Google Map:
http://orc.parknav.com/permit

Developer-friendly data sets can be accessed via the City of Chicago’s Department of Innovation Open Data Portal:
https://data.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/Parking-Permit-Zones/u9xt-hiju