How More Efficient Parking Can Save You Gas

You’re headed downtown for a concert, and hoping you won’t have to circle the city for an hour before you find a spot that’s not too far away from the venue.  Once you get there, you discover that, of course, finding a parking spot is going to be a huge headache.  You finally find a conveniently located garage, only to learn that it’s closed today.  By the time you finally find a spot, you’ve wasted untold amounts of gas.  Sound familiar?

Many people don’t even realize how much gas they’re really wasting because they either legitimately can’t find a good place to park, or they’re too lazy to walk.  If you’re guilty of circling parking lots waiting for a close spot to open up so you don’t have to make the 50-foot trek across the lot, stop.  Just stop.  Not only do you annoy and creep people out by hovering behind them as they walk to their vehicles, you’re wasting precious resources for no good reason.  Personally, my way of dealing with people like you is to intentionally walk as slowly as possible, walk up to a car that isn’t mine to fake you out and then give you the finger.  You only have an excuse if you’re pregnant, lugging something large and heavy or somehow disabled.

It’s also easy to miss the fact that backing out of a parking spot wastes gas.  Pull through spaces whenever possible, or back in.  It may sound illogical, but backing in can actually save you gas as opposed to backing out.  Here’s why: cold engines use more fuel.  If you have to back out after your car’s been parked for a while, it’ll suck up more gas than if you just backed in while the engine is still warm.  Another easy tip: park in the shade.  It’ll decrease the amount of fuel lost to evaporation and require less a/c when you get back in the car.

Of course, there are those instances when you’re unfamiliar with the parking situation in the immediate area of your destination.   Those are the times when, no matter how good your intentions, it can take a while of driving around to find a spot.  Well, if you live in the Chicago area, you’re in luck.  A site called ChicagoParkingMap.com will save you a lot of time, headaches, cursing and waving your fist, and of course gas.

The Chicago Parking Map website is loaded with features that make finding spots adjacent to your destination as easy as possible.  Choose the general area you’re headed to – say, downtown, O’Hare airport or the Museum of Science and Industry – and it displays a map full of little ‘P’ icons that indicate parking areas.  Click on the ‘P’ closest to your destination to get details on the lot including cost, payment methods accepted, hours of operation and where the street entrances and exits are.  Some even tell you how many spots are in the lot, so you can gauge how likely it is to be full when you arrive. Does it get any simpler?

This is the kind of smart planning we’d love to see more of.  Many cities have parking maps online, but none are anywhere near as robust and easy to use as Chicago Parking Map.  If every city had such a website, we could all save a lot of hassle and fossil fuels.

Sure, the gas money you save using these parking methods won’t send you on a vacation to Europe or anything, but it will definitely add up enough to be worth it, especially when you consider the impact on the environment and our resources!

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