Nearly every week, this website gets e-mails from people new to Chicago who have received Mayor Daley’s version of a “Welcome To Chicago” gift–a bright orange parking ticket or tickets for some infraction that someone from a normal place in America, would never think could be a legitimate violation.
These surprised and exasperated drivers then turn to our website with questions.
So The Expired Meter has put together a primer for new Chicago residents whom drive.
Read and heed the advice below and you’ll be a lot happier Chicagoan.
We are basically compressing approximately 12 months of learning the hard and expensive way, into 15 minutes of reading.
You are welcome!
License Plates & Registration
If you move to Chicago from out of state, technically, you must obtain new Illinois registration and license plates from the Illinois Secretary of State within 30 days.
You have 90 days to drive on your former state’s driver’s license before it must be obtain an Illinois driver’s license.
If you move to Chicago from another town, technically, you have 30 days to change your registration address and get a new driver’s license, with the Illinois Secretary of State.
Here’s where you can find your closest Secretary of State Drivers Facility.
For more information on this subject, check out the Secretary of State’s website.
City Sticker
All Chicago residents, technically, with license plates registered to an address within the city limits, must purchase an annual city sticker.
Currently, the city sticker costs $75.
The fine for being a resident and NOT purchasing a city sticker is $120!
New residents are given 30 days from the day they become residents (their move date) to purchase a city sticker. You must go in person to the City Clerk’s office downtown, one of their satellite offices, a Dept. of Revenue substation or at a local currency exchange.
When you make your initial city sticker purchase, you must bring proof of your new residency, ie: a lease or rental agreement.
When you purchase a new vehicle, you also have 30 days to purchase a city sticker and slap it on your windshield.
If you don’t purchase your city sticker within 30 days of your new residency or new vehicle purchase, you’ll be hit with a $40 late fee.
City sticker fees for new residents or for a new vehicle can be pro-rated. The full price of $75 will be in effect until from June 1st to November 30th. But from December 1st to March 31st, it drops to $50 and then drops to $25 from April 1st to May 31st.
You must bring in the proper documentation to prove you qualify for the pro-rated fees with documents which would include your lease, title/mortgage, car dealer bill of sale, vehicle title, or vehicle registration date.
For more information, and locations of payment centers, check out the Chicago City Clerk’s website.
Residential Permit Parking
There are some streets and areas of the city, where drivers are not allowed to park unless they have a residential permit.
Yes, it’s a big bunch of crap as we all know, tax money pays for streets.
But it’s a sad reality in Chicago so here are the facts.
These residential parking zones generally are for very high density areas, but not always.
These zones have different times of enforcement. Some are all the time, 24 hours a day. Others are from 6 PM – 6 AM. It all depends.
The key is to pay attention and not park where these signs are posted. That is unless you are visiting a friend and they have a handy dandy guest pass waiting for you to put on your dashboard.
If you decide to taunt fate and park in a residential parking zone without a sticker, you risk a $60 ticket.
If you move into an area that has zoned parking, you need to change your registration to your new address, make sure you have a city sticker or when you purchase your city sticker, apply for your residential parking permit.
Check out the website for the City Clerk of Chicago for more residential parking permit info.
B-Truck Plates
Trucks are not allowed to park on the majority of residential streets in Chicago. This means pickup trucks too–at least if you have B-Truck plates.
If you move to Chicago with a B-Truck plate, we strongly suggest you change the registration to a standard passenger plate. Otherwise, prepare to be ticketed.
In addition, vehicles with B-Truck plates are not allowed to legally drive on Lake Shore Drive. If anything, this is an even better reason to not have a B-Truck plate.
Back AND Front Plate Display
In Illinois, you must have both back AND front plates displayed on your vehicle. Other states may allow only the back plate displayed. So if you have out of state plates, Illinois law does not apply.
But, here in Illinois, you need to have both. Ignore the law and you will be ticketed and fined $50.
Winter Parking Restrictions
Every year, from December 1 to April 1, a bunch of seasonal parking restrictions and outright parking bans go into effect.
Overnight Parking Bans
There are some major city arteries where no parking is allowed overnight from 3 AM – 7 AM, no matter the weather. Don’t ignore the signs just because there is no snow.
Snow, ice, dry pavement– park overnight on one of these streets and you’re making a trip to the auto pound the next morning.
Here’s a map of the streets where the overnight parking bans are in effect, a full listing of those streets.
Snow Routes (2″ Snow Ban)
There are other major thoroughfares, otherwise known as snow routes in the city where, when 2″ of snow or more hits the ground, you need to move your vehicle elsewhere, lest you be towed. This means ANYTIME there is 2″ of snow or more, not just overnight. So, if you park on one of these streets, you need to watch the weather carefully.
Here is a map of all snow route streets effected by the 2″ snow parking ban and a listing of all Chicago snow routes.
NOTE: Sometimes the 2″ snow ban and the overnight parking bans apply to the same streets.
Street Cleaning
When winter parking restrictions end, street cleaning season begins.
From April 1 – November 30th, street sweepers putter up and down the streets of Chicago to theoretically clean the pavement and rid the streets of the flotsam and jetsam that urban environments seem to create.
Generally speaking, your street gets swept twice a month. One side gets cleaned on one day and then on the next day, the other side gets cleaned.
Street cleaning enforcement begins at 9 AM and ends at 3 PM. In that time period your vehicle cannot be parked on the side of the street to be cleaned or you risk getting a ticket. And when I say risk, I really mean, it will be ticketed.
Street cleaning violations are $50.00.
Signs announcing street cleaning are either permenantly installed or in most cases, color-coded signs are put up, and again theoretically, 24 hours or more before street cleaning is supposed to occur.
In addition, street cleaning schedules are posted here.
I suggest checking the street cleaning schedules for the streets you park on and then put the dates on your calendar so you have lots of advanced warning.
While enforcement of these violations are already pretty intense, the city has upped the ante and will soon have all street sweepers armed with cameras to make sure it nails everyone who parks illegally on street cleaning days.
Tinted Windows
Not only are tinted windows not allowed by Chicago municipal law, but are illegal by Illinois state law as well.
If you are moving to Chicago from out of town, make sure you have no, zero, none, nada tint on your front windshield and front side windows.
If you have tinted windows, spend the $30-$50 to have the tint removed or you’ll get hit with a $25 ticket now, but it jumps to $250 after January 15, 2009.
Red light Cameras
If you are moving from out of town, you may not be familiar with these things called red light cameras.
These are special cameras, mounted at certain intersections which will photograph your license plate if you blow through a red light there. A few weeks later you will receive a ticket for $100. These are very hard to beat.
We wrote a more extensive post on red light cameras a few months ago that will give you the red light camera lowdown.
Here is a list of all of Chicago’s red light camera locations.
Da’ Boot
Most people scream in horror or frustration when they see it on their car. Other people pace and rant when they realize they’ve been caught. It has been known to make grown men cry and hurt the wallets of many. It’s the boot.
The boot or the Denver boot, is a big, yellow, heavy, metal lock the city will slap onto your car, making it immobile, if you don’t pay your parking tickets.
If you have three or more unpaid parking tickets or red light violations in Final Determination Status, you will be eligible for the boot. This may change soon to two tickets if Mayor Daley gets his way. But in the meantime, make sure you have no more than two unpaid tickets or you risk getting booted.
Getting booted will cost you $60 for the boot removal fee, but you also have to pay ALL unpaid tickets that are in final determination.
If you don’t pay up within 24 hours, while it doesn’t happen every time, the city can and will tow your booted vehicle to the auto pound. This will cost you an additional $160 plus any storage fees the longer you leave your vehicle there.
All newer tickets that are being contested, or are still eligible to be contested or are not in Final Determination status, do not have to be paid to have the boot removed.
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Very informative.
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[...] In the meantime, read: Parking Ticket 101: Welcome To Chicago!!! A Beginners Guide To Driving In Chicago. [...]
[...] you for all the time you put into your website; as a new resident to the City of Chicago your “Welcome Guide” saved my wallet! I wish they’d buy a license from you and print a booklet for new [...]
Your site is very important and I’m glad to see all the publicity you are getting.
I was actually seraching for info on B truck plates and your site came up. I know it’s nothing new, but why can’t a person who lives in the city and needs a truck for work park in the city? What a joke. Am I going to have to park my truck blocks away on a busy street every night in order to avoid tickets. Am I to pray that the stretch of Halsted I live by that doesn’t have meters remains that way?
I’m one of those people who swears they’ll never live in the burbs, but Daley and Stroger sure do test me!
Adamoda14:
B truck Plates are considered a Commercial Plate, as are RV plates, Taxi’s, Livery’s and Bus’s.
The Muni Code: 9-64-170(a)
Park Truck, RV (22 feet or larger), Self-Contained Motor Home, Bus, Taxi or Livery Vehicle on Residential Street. Pickup Trucks and Vans are exempted in Wards: 1,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,
21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,32,33,35,37,40,42,43,46,49 and 50 IF the appropriate permit is displayed.
Recently moved into the city with my tiny little S-10. You mentioned getting my truck plates converted to Passenger plates from the current B-plates they have. Is it possible to do this? How does one go about it if it is?
I’m just cranky that SUV’s pay less than I do in sticker fees and license fees, and 98% of all SUV’s are bigger than my little scooter of a truck.
It’s a sad day when residents have to obtain a Masters degree in parking just to avoid the Lillipution mine field of contrived violations created by city bureaucrats. (The ONLY imagination they seem to have)
Very informative site. It is extremely frustrating that being a Chicagoan comes with a Bible-thick set of rules.
I am moving OUT of Chicago in 2 weeks so I didn’t get the city sticker renewal. Today I got a ticket for no city sticker…what happens if I don’t pay it and move (to North Carolina) and get NC license plates very soon? I wonder if the City of Chicago can track my credit or anything like that??
Holly, for one ticket, I say blow town, give Chicago the finger, and never look back.
My car has been registered out in Aurora at my parent’s address and now they are moving. I moved into the city in mid-May and now I need to get a city sticker. When I change the address on my registration will that date count as the day I moved? Can I use the change of address letter to get the $40 late fee waived?
re pickup trucks: the quick: see here http://www.chicityclerk.com/residentialpickuptruck.php
the long:
today I got a ticket for having my pickup on the street in front of my apt. after a lot of googling (which led me here) and reading and phoning this is what I discovered:
according to the dmv/secretary of state’s office (or at least the lady I talked to), you cannot get passenger plates for trucks no matter how small or ‘uncommercial’. the b-truck plate is for trucks under 8,000 pounds.
this kind lady with the sec. of state recommended I talk to the city of chicago.
after several calls and transfers and such I found out that you can get a residential permit for your pickup. I was told I had to go to my alderman’s office. once I found out ward I’m in (ward 36 of wicker park) I called their office. they informed me that I needed to come into their office and fill out a simple form (license plate number, city sticker number, make, model, and year of my truck, and some kind of proof of address) to get the sticker.
after all this I got my permit. and the good news: it was is free. minus the discovery phase and the pending ticket
here’s a relevant link:
http://www.chicityclerk.com/residentialpickuptruck.php
I must say it’s worth calling your aldermanic (their term, not mind) office if your ward is not listed. mine wasn’t but they still had permits.
the guy at the office said there must have been some kind of crack down this week because a whole lot of people had been coming in. he also said they should tell truck owners when they get their city sticker and that he didn’t like the policy. I couldn’t agree more.
Regarding the window tint law: That law was changed in the state in Oct of 2009. Windows are now allowed to be tinted to 35% darkness. This includes the Driver and passenger window. This is a state vehicle code and can not be over ruled by the “homerule” law that lets Chicago over ride it. The city is still to this day writing $275 tickets for tinted windows because law enforcement hasn’t been educated about the changes. I received a ticket in Nov of 09, requested a hearing in person, and waited 4 months until the city mailed me a letter dismissing the ticket without even requiring a court appearance. Please post this in your popular blog.
TINTED WINDOWS ARE LEGAL IN CHICAGO. DO NOT PAY THE $275 FINE!
Wish I would have read this before. Today, was parked at O’Hare outside lot and saw no fewer than 25 tickets on cars in my row alone!!, mine included.
Majority were for single license plates! $50 per! Why was I told that B-trucks only needed to display rear license plates when I moved here (Libertyville DMV)? Did this change over the last 6 years?
i got a ticket yesterday for parking in a disabled parking zone. O course this was by accident, the sign was at the very beginning and very end of the block with lots of trees to block them. I am moving out of chicago in a few weeks and going to be changing my plates. Can i get away with out paying? The ticket is $200!!!
Lindsey,
If the signs were obscured, then that’s grounds to have the tickets dismissed. Just photograph the signs in their obscured state.
However, if you are moving out of Chicago and getting new plates, you will make it much tougher on the city to collect their $200.
Mike…
Illinois State Law requires a Front and Rear Mounted plate. THis is not something that Chicago thought up to stick suburban drivers. Sec of State for Illinois visits every Municipality every year and updates them on rules and regulations regarding license plates. And Libertyvilles DMV is a joke…they couldn’t find the Jakes if the sign was in front of them.
Justin..
Home Rule Clause of the Illinois 1979 Amended Constitution does allow every municipality over 25k residents to Interpret State Laws anyway they want. And it is a 250 dollar fine…not 275. Oh…Revenue isn’t writing these…Just the CPD.
OK I’m still a little confused on the B plate thing. I looked on the IL Sec of State site and can get a vanity plate for the truck which wouldn’t be a B plate. Will I still get tickets if I switch to the vanity plates?
Great site, this city does all it can to liberate people from their money and we this site helps people keep their money where it belongs!
Matt,
If you switch your plates over, the B plate/pickup ticket issue should go away. The ticket writers are just looking for the B plate.
Matt and PTG:
Vans and Pickup trucks require the specific permit, regardless of Plate Type: Its not a B Plate violation…..its a muni-code that covers multiple vehicles and plates.
09-64-170(a) Park Truck, Recreation Vehicle more than 22 feet in length, Self-contained Motor Home, Bus, Taxi (except Wards 15 and 46), Livery Vehicle on a Residential Street. Note: Pickup trucks and vans are exempted in Wards 1, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 37, 40, 42, 43, 46, 49, and 50. Except when proper commercial Truck/Van permit is displayed.
(Exception: Wards not listed above do not allow these vehicles Even IF they have the permit, ticket will be issued…….And if the Permit is expired…the Ticket will be Issued).
And Matt failed to mention what type of vehicle he has.
What happens if you have 2 parking tickets totaling $500 and are leaving the state for good. Do they go to a debt collection agency/will the hurt my credit? Should I pay (they are both for having ONE tinted window!!!)
Just to clarify on the B-truck issue. The easiest way to convert your B truck plates to “passenger” plates is to get the Firefighter Memorial plates. These are the cheapest specialty plates that the state issues to both B trucks and passenger cars, and since DoR writes the tickets based on the plate and not the vehicle, your truck magically becomes legal.
It’ll cost you an extra $56 to get the plates and an extra $27 per year to renew, but parking a B truck on a residential street is a $25 ticket, so it’s a quick payback.
We have family visiting that are moving from the West coast to the East coast and will only be here Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. They have a large Uhaul truck with a tow on the back carrying their car. I’m assuming they can’t park on the residential street (Humboldt Blvd). Where could they park this monster without getting ticketed and also avoiding a 5 mile walk back to our house? Any help would be appreciated since I can’t get a straight answer from our alderman.
Thanks!
Christina,
I honestly don’t know the answer to your question.
I will try talking to some aldermanic contacts I have.
But try calling one of the local Uhaul companies and see what they know. Ask for a manager. My guess the counter help won’t know.
Hopefully, between the two of us and perhaps some input from friends on the website, we can get an answer together for you.
Thank you!!! I’ll give Uhaul a call right now and see what I can find out. I’ll make sure to post my findings in case this question ever comes up again.
Sorry for the multiple comments!!! Looks like the few Uhaul locations I called have conflicting answers. Some say “yes” they could park on the street for longer than 24 hours as long as we were willing to take the risk of having the truck stolen/vandalized/etc. Others said that we could only park on main drags (i.e. Armitage, Fullerton, North Ave., etc) and that we would need to move the truck every 24 hours. Others said they didn’t know. Now…I’m really confused! I was hoping they could park on the residential street in front of our house so we could keep an eye on it, but now, I’m not so sure. Would you suggest calling the local police department and seeing what they say?
It wouldn’t hurt to try calling 311 with your question.
However, 311 operators and even cops don’t always know the right answer. Seriously, I hear of bad info routinely.
But, I think the answer that you can park on non-residential streets overnight is correct. Either commercial or industrial streets should be safe (legally speaking).
I would also bet, and I will check, that you DO have to move it every 24 hours. But, that could mean, one or two spaces forward or backward or on the other side of the street.
I’m still checking my sources.
We will take this in Order:–
Christina:
The U-Haul has Apportioned Arizona plates (they all do for some damn reason). That is a Truck Plate. Humboldt Blvd is ward 37 for the most part, and Ward 37 requires Vehicles with Truck Plates/Pickup Trucks/Vans/Rvs more than 22′ long/Taxis/Bus’s/Livery Vehicles and Self Contained Motorhomes to have a Truck/Van Residential Permit displayed on the vehicles windshield to be able to park on a Residential Street. Period, Stop, End.
Humboldt however is a Blvd. We do not use 9-64-170(a) for Blvd thruways.
That violation is:
9-64-170(b): Park Truck/Motorhome/Bus on Business street EXCEPT for Expeditious Loading/Unloading. 25.00 FINE for failure to comply.
If you park it on a Business street….like for example; Sacramento or California; it will depend upon the boredom of the CPD squad that see’s it.
In a residential neighborhood, its going to depend whether SerCo is in your area for that weekend…if not…your possibly fine…if they are; its going to get tagged. 25.00 per ticket, once per 24 hours only.
Robin: What State is your license plate from that the tickets were issued against? If any other than Illinois, thats a ticket you should have fought, cause its an Illinois Compliance violation only. And yes…the City will send it off to a collector and it can screw your credit score for non-payment.
Brian…Please READ the Municipal Code I posted above you…it spells out that Pickup Trucks and Vans fall under the requirement. That’s regardless of the License Plate TYPE. The Muni-Code covers Plates AND Vehicles. Not 1 OR the other. I see SUV’s with B-Plates…I see Pickups with FFM or PML or College plates…they are all eligible for the ticket if they don’t have the Truck permit, or are parked in a ward that doesn’t allow the plate/vehicle at all on residential streets….Like Wards 2 and 11 for example.
NOW….currently, Revenue IS enforcing that code…in some wards.
Thank you for your help!!!
hey x-tina how you doin? Dis is ticket masta blasta at yo service. Yo uhaul should be good to go. Da police moral is so low they dont be writing no mo rush hour o street cleanin yo. You shouldnt get a ticket from revenue dey should be using good judgment ha…..you should be safe gurl. you in da humbolt area revenue done by 6…serco dont be goin down humbolt at nite. you get a ticket u should be able to contest with da help of mah main man Ticket Geek.
I owe the city lots of money in parking tickets. I was able to get on a hardship payment plan. My question is do I have to pay all of my tickets before i get fingerprinted to work at a cps school?
I agree thats my car but it wasn’t me driving it.Carrie ann mcxxxxxxxxx was driving my car to go to work in Ill.Its not fair i have to pay for ticket i didn’t get.thats why i don’t like this camra thing gives tickets to wrong person.if she got stoped by a cop i wouldnt have to pay it .why should i pay this not my ticket. Give it to who got the ticket carrie ann xxxxxxxxxxxx.
Carla……send her a bill..
PTG will give advice and even suggest how to fight the ticket…
But we can’t help that the person you loaned your car to is a stupid driver.
I was parked out by the Adler Planetarium on Solidarity. I put 5.00 in the meter at noon and when I returned to my Kentucky registered vehicle at 5:30, I had a $50 ticket on the windshield. I cannot believe they would shaft visitors to the city and leave them with such a dislike of the city. The ticket was written at 4:43….this should have been before the meter expired at 5? I hate that 1 more dollar would have avoided this. So should I just forget it, or should I pay it? It seems like an excessive punishment.
George…….if you still have the meter receipt:
1. Double check the time the receipt was due to expire at.
2. Make sure the ticket you got was for an Expired Meter and not something else. Chicago Ticket writing agencies like DOR and CPD are authorized to cite vehicles for expired plates regardless of state of origin.
3. Compare time of Ticket and Time of Expiration on Meter Receipt.
IF the Ticket was issued less than 5 minutes from teh time it was expired, OR Before the Time it expired….Contest the TICKET By Mail by 5pm TOMORROW. The more time passes, the more you are likely to be stuck with the ticket….more than 7 days.
If you can scan a photo of the ticket and your Meter Receipt, and mail it to the geek; he can get it to me and I can look at it and see if its valid.
George,
Mr. DoR speaks the truth (and beat me to the punch).
I’m a little sketchy on Solidarity, but my guess is $5 doesn’t buy you very much time down there. Even in the outlying neighborhoods, the meters are $1.25 per hour. At best, $5 would have bought you 4 hours worth of metered time.
Like DoR Employee says, compare the meter receipt to the time on the ticket. If your meter receipt has a time beyond the 4:43 time on the ticket, you will win easily if you contest.
E-mail me if you need more input: askthegeek@theexpiredmeter.com
I’ll gladly look over your ticket, receipt, etc.
Thanks DoR for the solid input.
For 9-64-170(b), what counts as a “business street?” What I’m really asking is, can I park my 16-foot U-Haul on Belmont Ave for a day without fear of being ticketed?
Relevant legal code here:
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Illinois/chicago_il/title9vehiclestrafficandrailtransportati/chapter9-64parkingregulations?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=#LPTOC22
Thanks for this page, it’s been super-helpful. My question has kinda been addressed, but I’m going to throw it out there in case anyone’s able to help. My boyfriend and I are moving to Chicago next week and taking my mom’s pickup truck (with Michigan plates). We’re going to be near the Thorndale EL stop in Edgewater (ward 48) on Winthrop. Where can I park? I’m assuming I’d get ticketed for parking on residential streets even though it’s out of state (I come from what has to be the 9th circle of parking hell–Ann Arbor, MI–so I have a very healthy fear of violating obscure parking laws). Is there some slight chance I’m wrong about that?
Actually, rereading some of the stuff I was looking at, I think I might have misunderstood– so since I just have regular Michigan plates, it’ll be fine?
I’ve confused myself.
Jeff……..it depends.
64-170b states that there must be active Loading or Unloading.
If the loading/unloading isn’t “expeditious” then the violation notice can be issued.
Its a 25.00 fine….and cheaper than most overnight pay to park lots.
However…..depending on the location on Belmont…there is 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm Rush Hour restrictions.
DoR Employee,
Thanks for that, and the tip about the rush hour no-parking zones, which I happen to be intimately familiar with.
Anyway, after my last message, I decided to do a bit of checking. I called my Alderman’s office (ward 27) and inquired about the truck permit for my U-Haul on my residential street (which is also zoned, so I’d put a temporary zone pass on it too). The office told me “you don’t need a permit” which of course disagrees with the muni code.
Then, I called my girlfriend’s Alderman’s office too (ward 31), who transferred me to a different number (I think it was CDOT in the end). They said that yes, technically I did need the permit, but that they didn’t issue them for U-Hauls (something about that company not providing the city with insurance information), so that what most people did was just “take their chances.”
So that’s what I did. My truck was sitting on south side of Belmont from about 12:30PM-5:30PM Wednesday, and overnight on Milwaukee from 9:30PM-5:30AM Friday. No ticket so far. I guess enforcement is selective, and dare I say, compassionate?!
Mina, you might as well call the Alderman’s office and tell them you’re moving there. See what they recommend.