New Survey Shows Chicagoans Ditch Downtown Over Parking Headaches; ParkWhiz Unveils Affordable Pricing to Get Them Back

CHICAGO, May 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago is one of America's worst cities for parking. To better understand the pain points of parking in the city, ParkWhiz surveyed more than 500 Chicagoans for their thoughts about the issues. According to the data, 97 percent of Chicagoans said city parking is expensive and 73 percent cited high price as the worst aspect of parking. In response to the feedback, ParkWhiz, the nation's leading parking app, created Simple Price Parking. ParkWhiz Simple Price Parking is a new flat-rate pricing model that lets customers pay only $5 for one hour, $10 for two hours and $15 for all day parking at any of ParkWhiz's 100 partner garages throughout the city when booking through the app.

"It's no secret that parking in Chicago is expensive. Even street-meter parking can be as high as $6.50 per hour," said ParkWhiz CEO Aashish Dalal. "Our goal is to simplify the frustrating process of finding affordable parking downtown and give our customers the flexibility to park where they want at a lower and predictable price. People shouldn't miss out on going where they want because of high parking."

According to the survey, Chicagoans found:

• The High Cost of Parking Is a Roadblock –
  • 81 percent of people said they would be more likely to go downtown if it wasn't for the cost of parking.
  • 60 percent said the hassle of parking has prevented them from attending an event.
  • 59 percent said they gave up on traveling to their destination because they couldn't find parking.
  • 10 percent said they haven't taken a job because of the parking situation.
• Parking Prices Are Unpredictable – 71 percent said the price they paid was different than what they were expecting.
• The Loop Is the Toughest Place to Find Parking – 40 percent said The Loop is the most difficult neighborhood to find parking followed by Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast.

ParkWhiz's Simple Price Parking reflects real-time parking availability and pricing at more than 400 ParkWhiz partner locations. The average price to park in a Chicago garage is $21 for one hour and $27 for 12 hours. In comparison, Simple Price Parking customers pay only $5 for one hour, $10 for two hours and $15 for all day parking. Finding the best price can also be challenging, given that there can be more than 130 different rates in the city at any given time. ParkWhiz's Simple Price Parking is designed to eliminate the guesswork of finding an affordable spot and level the playing field to make it easier and less expensive to park in Chicago.

ParkWhiz's Simple Price Parking is available in Chicago now by downloading the ParkWhiz app for iPhone or Android.

About ParkWhiz:
Headquartered in Chicago, ParkWhiz is the e-parking industry leader. The company's website and mobile platforms provide a fast and efficient way for drivers to find and book guaranteed parking spaces before reaching their destination at thousands of parking locations across the country, from New York City to Chicago to San Francisco. ParkWhiz is an official partner of StubHub and TicketsNow, and the company also partners with professional and collegiate sports organizations, including the Indianapolis Colts and NCAA teams and entertainment venues across the country. For more information, visit ParkWhiz.com.

SOURCE ParkWhiz

Related Links

http://www.parkwhiz.com