Chicago's parking meters are operated by Chicago Parking Meters, LLC (CPM) under a 75-year concession agreement with the City that lasts until 2083. The City retains the right to relocate meters, but any revenue impact must be compensated through quarterly settlement payments.
This tool shows what the meter system could look like if meters were moved away from bike and pedestrian infrastructure and better streets for buses corridors to higher-revenue commercial areas, while staying within the contract's financial limits.
The contract sets hard limits on the number of concession parking spaces CPM can operate:
SISP measures how the system's actual revenue compares to the full-utilization baseline established at the start of the contract in 2008.
The Settlement System Revenue Value (assessed value of parking assets) is approximately $386.7M, representing the theoretical revenue of all concession spaces at full utilization.
If the annual average SISP falls below 80%, CPM can invoke a Reserved Powers Adverse Action (financial penalty) and seek compensation beyond the quarterly true-up.
Each quarter, the City calculates whether it owes CPM a settlement payment based on SISP:
If SISP is below 100%, the City pays CPM a true-up. The contract requires the system to maintain baseline revenue of $386.7M.
This proposal keeps the annual true-up at or near $0. Relocated meters generate at least as much revenue as the spaces they replaced when taken as a whole.
Any new spaces added (created when spaces are relocated) on blocks that did not previously have meters must generate at least $2,000 per space per year in each of the first two Reporting Years (March 1 - February 28).
If a block falls short in both years, the City must reclassify those spaces back to Reserve status (City-operated), with CPM earning only a device rental fee.











































