At ParkWhiz, we’re never too busy to give back. This Saturday, May 18th, ParkWhiz will head over to Soldier Field for Walk Now for Autism Speaks – a signature fundraiser created by Autism Speaks.  This event brings together hundreds of thousands of people annually across the U.S. and Canada and generates funds for autism research and promotes awareness around autism/ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

We are honored to be able to participate in such a big event and look forward to sharing  how services like ParkWhiz.com can help alleviate some of the daily stresses and challenges parents with children affected by ASD have to encounter.

If you plan on attending Walk Now for Autism Speaks in Chicago, feel free to swing by our booth where you can play our Spin-to-Win for chances to win discounted and free parking, and other ParkWhiz giveaways.

If you would like to donate to Autism Speaks, click here!

We hope to see you there!

The post ParkWhiz Supports Walk Now for Autism Speaks appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Why It’s Unique:

-When looking at the garage from the outside, it looks like a single car garage. Inside, it stores 765 vehicles using a robotic automation. 

-Pre-opening performance tests that were conducted proved the garage could handle more than 250 cars per hour.

-As of 2012, this robotic garage is the only automated car park in the Middle East region that has a continuous operations track record of more than three years.

-These Robotic Parking Systems can reduce the land area used for parking by 50% as compared to traditional ramp style parking.

The post Robotic Parking Garages? appeared first on ParkWhiz.

It’s that time of year again! Chicago Summer Festivals are in full swing and we are excited that the days of longer daylight and outdoor food, fun and music are here. Chicago Summer Festivals are what this city is known for and many tourists flock to the Windy City to get a taste of this first-hand.

Whether you are commuting from somewhere in the City or surrounding suburbs, make sure you book your parking ahead of time so that you don’t waste time dealing with the parking madness.

If you’re going to take your chances and try to find street parking, make sure you read the signs because the last thing you want is to return to your vehicle and find a little orange surprise displayed on your dashboard.

Check out the Chicago Summer Festival lineup below:

May
3-5: Cinco de Mayo Fest | Little Village
4: TAP Beer Festival | Wicker Park/Bucktown
11: American Beer Classic | Soldier Field
17-19: Mayfest | Lakeview
25-26: Belmont-Sheffield Music Festival | Lincoln Park
25-26: Randolph St. Outdoor Market Debut | West Loop
30-June 2: Maifest | Lincoln Square
31-June 2: Do-Division | Wicker Park
31-June 2: Millennium Arts Fest | The Loop

June
1-2: 57th Street Art Fair | Hyde Park
1-2: Fashion in the Street | South Loop
1-2: Lincoln Avenue Live | Lincoln Park
1: Veggie Pride Parade and Festival | South Loop
7: Taste of Greece | West Loop
7-8: Ribfest Chicago | Lakeview
7-9: Andersonville Midsommarfest | Andersonville
7-9: Blues Fest | Grant Park
8-9: Wells Street Art Fest | Old Town
8-9: Old Town Art Fair | Old Town
8-9: Printers Row Lit Fest | South Loop
12-16: Puerto Rican Festival | Humboldt Park
14-16: Spring Awakening Music Festival | Soldier Field
14-16: Taste of Randolph Street | West Loop
15-16:  6 Corners BBQ Fest | Jefferson Park
15-16: SausageFest | Lakeview
20-23: Chicago Craft Beer Festival | Old Town
22-23: Pride Fest | Boystown
23-24: Green Music Fest 2013 | Wicker Park
23: Artopia Fest | Logan Square
28-29: Old St. Pat’s World’s Largest Block Party | West Loop
29: Summer on Southport | Lakeview
29-30: Chicago Country Fest | Lincoln Park
29-30: Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival | Lincoln Park
30: Pride Parade | Boystown

July
5-7: Wavefront Music Festival | Montrose Harbor
5-7: Windy City Ribfest | Uptown 
6-7: Taste of Lakeview | Lakeview
6-7: Rock Around the Block | Lakeview
10-14: Taste of Chicago | Grant Park
12-14: Irish American Heritage Festival | Portage Park
12-14: Windy City Smokeout  | River North
12-14:  Square Roots | Lincoln Square
13-14: Roscoe Village Burger Fest | Roscoe Village
13-14: West Fest | West Town
19-21: Taste of River North | River North
19-21: BenFest | North Center
19-21: Pitchfork | Union Park
20: Sheffield Garden Walk | Lincoln Park
20-21: Celebrate Clark Street | Rogers Park
21: Chinatown Summer Fair | Chinatown
25-28: Fiesta Del Sol | Pilsen
27: Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival | Tinley Park
27-28: Taste of Lincoln Avenue | Lincoln Park
27-28: Wicker Park Fest | Wicker Park

August
1-4: Lakefront Carnival | Uptown
2-4: Lollapalooza | Grant Park
3-4: Chicago Summerfest | Wrigleyville
3-4: Edge Fest |Edgewater
7-11: Tall Ships | Navy Pier
9-11: Ginza Festival | Old Town
9-11: Serb Fest | Jefferson Park
10: Bud Billiken Parade & Picnic | Bronzeville
10-11: Retro on Roscoe | Roscoe Village
10-11: Northalsted Market Days | Boystown
16-18: Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest | Edgewater
17-18: Chicago Air & Water Show | Gold Coast
22-25: Festa Italiana | Little Village
23-25: The Boulevard | Logan Square
23-25: Brazil Fest | Logan Square
24-25: Bucktown Arts Fest | Bucktown
24-25: Ukrainian Days Festival | Smith Park
29-Sept. 8: Chicago Fringe Festival | Pilsen
30-Sept. 1: North Coast Music Fest | Union Park

September
6-8: Windy City Wine Festival | Grant Park
7-8: Guinness OysterFest | Roscoe Village
7-8: Renegade Craft Fair | Wicker Park
7-9: Festival de la Villita | Little Village
13-15: Riot Fest | Humboldt Park
13-15: North Side Irish Fest | North Center
21: Logan Square Beer Fest | Logan Square
27-29: Oktoberfest Chicago | Lincoln Park
28-29: Design Harvest | West Town
28-29: Hyde Park Jazz Festival | Hyde Park

If you are more into the Chicago Music Festival scene, check out the lineup of the most popular here!

The post Your Guide To Chicago Summer Festivals 2013 and Parking appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Hey ParkWhiz Friends!

We’re giving away a month of free parking via Facebook!

From now through May 20th, you can enter to win a month of free parking listed through ParkWhiz. So if you have been having trouble finding parking, especially monthly parking, this is your opportunity to make life a little bit easier.

Enter here to win and share with your friends!

The post We’re Giving Away a Month of Free Parking appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Also, click here for a reminder of the closures that will begin at 10pm tonight, Friday April 26th.

The post Wells Street Bridge Reconstruction: Part Two appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Here at ParkWhiz, we know all too well that parking garages and lots tend to vary. From valet to surface lots to garages that wind around so many times, you’ve literally driven yourself dizzy. Because flying cars most likely are not in our near future, the next best thing would have to be some amazing parking garages. In Japan, there are over 60 million vehicles to be housed in an area the size of the state of California. This calls for some creativity. The Japanese have upped the technology and figured out a few ways to save space and make parking a breeze for drivers and operators!

The post Parking Technology in Japan appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Let’s be kind to the environment this Earth Day!

If there is one day that signifies spring, it’s definitely Earth Day. By this time the trees are budding, grass and flowers are peaking through the ground, and Mother Nature is showering us with the rain.

When thinking about Earth Day, the last thing we might consider is a our cars.  Since the majority of our vehicles still tend to pollute our environment – unless you are going hybrid or electric – we should be conscious of minimizing our carbon footprint. There are ways we can cut down on the amount of emissions our vehicles put into the atmosphere without breaking the bank and purchasing a new earth-friendly automobile.

Check out some of these tips on improving your vehicle’s fuel efficiency and becoming a greener driver…and you may be able to save some extra cash on the side.

1.) Check your tire pressure

Check your tires’ psi (pounds per square inch). Each month, your tire loses about 1 psi, and 3 pounds or more below the recommended tire pressure can result in fuel efficiency loss.

2.) Keep the motor running

Yes! This sounds crazy, but an idle engine creates 5 times more pollution to start, compared to an engine that has been running.

3.) Don’t rage

Don’t let road rage and aggressive driving be the culprits behind your frequent gas fill-ups. Excessive lane changing and accelerating and breaking too quickly can reduce your mpg (mile per gallon) efficiency up to 33 percent.

4.) Don’t over fill

Many of us like to add those last few drops of gasoline to our tanks, but this actually causes excessive fumes to be released in to the atmosphere. Don’t top off the tanks; however, fill them up to their appropriate capacity.

5.) Carpool

This is obvious, but carpooling with friends or even co-workers a couple of days out of the week goes a long way.

6.) Keep it light

Remove any heavy loads from your vehicles like bike racks to help decrease weight and increase miles per gallon.

7.) Think “right”

Plan your commute and try to incorporate as many right turns into your route. You will be able to turn right on many red lights, which will help save gas and cut down on idle time sitting at stop lights.

8.) Inspect under the hood

Doing routine checks of oxygen sensors, spark plugs, belts and hoses can help save you money on gas and improve fuel efficiency.

9.) Minimize A/C

Keep your A/C at a minimum or turn it off. Blasting the A/C can reduce your car’s fuel efficiency by 25 percent.

10.) ParkWhiz

Fact: “About 30% of traffic is due to driving around looking for parking.”

Use www.ParkWhiz.com to reserve your parking in advance so you don’t have to drive around looking for parking, thus reducing the amount of emissions released into the air.

Happy Earth Day!

The post Be Kind to the Environment – Earth Day Facts for Drivers appeared first on ParkWhiz.

We’ve made it to the middle of the week and of course, we have a great WOW! (Whacked Out Wednesday) video to keep you going strong ’til the weekend.

Sure! We’ve all experienced at one point or another walking to our vehicle to find a parking meter attendant writing us a ticket because of expired time.  We may have shared some choice words with the parking meter attendant or kindly waited for him/her to finish writing the ticket and leave…

But, we bet you would never think your friend would enter with a saw, and go to town.

No matter how angry one may get, nobody should saw off parking meters. We’re pretty sure that this guy will be spending some time in front of the judge explaining his actions.

Check out this video where this guy shows us what not to do when receiving a parking ticket.We must say, he accomplished this all in a flick of the wrist, literally (watch at the end)!

The post Parking Meter Attendant Watches Guy Saw Off Parking Meter appeared first on ParkWhiz.

Happy Tax Day! The best thing we can say about April 15th is that we don’t have to worry about filing taxes again for another year. (Although, interestingly enough, about a third of Americans actually like doing their taxes.) In order to ease your pain a bit, ParkWhiz is offering 10% off your next parking reservation: simply enter promo code TAXDAY now through Sunday, April 21 (11:59 p.m. CT).

In local tax news, last week the Chicago City Council – as expected - passed Mayor Emanuel’s proposed change to the parking tax. Starting July 1st, drivers will pay a simple percentage tax instead of the previous tiered rates.

So now that Chicago garage owners’ accountants have a slightly easier job, how does Chicago’s tax compare to other cities? Just about average. As the below table shows, Chicago grabs the 5th spot for most-taxed parking cities.

In fact, the only comparably-sized city with a significantly lower tax rate is Los Angeles at 10% — and L.A. has discussed raising that rate to 15%.

The post Chicago Parking Tax Update and Tax Day Promo! appeared first on ParkWhiz.

…That is, until you’ve seen this: The “World’s Tightest Parallel Parker.” Meet John Moffatt who launched into a space on December 12, 2012 that is just 13.1 cm longer than his vehicle.

The post The World’s Best Parallel Parking Job appeared first on ParkWhiz.