Blog Post

Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab Members Announce COVID-19 Emergency Response

City Tech Collaborative • Mar 25, 2020

City Tech Partners Offer Reduced Pricing, Operational Enhancements, and Data Sharing to Help Navigate the Coronavirus Crisis

CHICAGO – In the face of COVID-19, mobility industry leaders are coming together to facilitate travel for essential workers and share information to help cities better understand the pandemic’s impact on local economies. Operational safeguards and advanced analytics highlight the parking industry’s recent adaptations and crucial role in multi-modal urban transportation systems.

Millennium Garages , which encompass four facilities and more than 9,000 parking spaces beneath Chicago’s downtown parks, have announced reduced pricing of $12 for 12 hours and $18 for 24 hours from March 26th through April 30th. These emergency parking rates are intended to support essential workers during the coronavirus crisis and apply to all customers, with no need for coupons, codes, or pre-booking.

The garages remain open 24/7 and continue to serve approximately 1,000 customers per day, in compliance with the statewide stay-at-home order that took effect on March 21st. Businesses or institutions that need temporary fleet storage or other COVID-19 related support should email Info@MillenniumGarages.com or call 312-616-1543.

As one of the nation’s largest parking and mobility services operators, Chicago-based SP+ manages Millennium Garages. To protect the safety of guests and employees, SP+ has implemented enhanced operational practices at Millennium Garages, including frequent sterilization of payment kiosks, elevators, doorknobs, and other surfaces to inhibit the spread of COVID-19.

Cutting-edge technology and real-time information can provide useful insight into urban activity, facilitate mobility transactions, and share space availability for potential emergency response and equipment staging. To that end, parking and mobility technology platform Arrive is enabling digital, contactless payments through ParkWhiz, BestParking, and other partner apps. The Millennium Gateway participants aim to share up-to-date information on Millennium Garages’ occupancy and other data-driven observations with city officials and industry partners. SP+ is offering marketing and analytical support to correspond with that activity.

“Arrive’s partnership with City Tech is not only about transportation progress and innovation but also about unification during times of need such as the current crisis. Arrive and its Millennium Gateway partners are uniquely positioned to support first responders, health care service workers, city workers, and anyone seeking affordable ways to manage their commute,” said Dan Roarty, President and COO of Arrive.

“COVID-19 has presented an all-hands-on-deck situation that requires rapid action and extensive collaboration,” said Beth Beatty, the City of Chicago’s Deputy Director of Financial Policy. “The City of Chicago is pleased to be working with Millennium Garages and its partners to make the best use of public and private assets during this extraordinarily challenging time.”

With one billion parking spaces, annual revenue of $130 billion, state and local tax contributions totaling $19 billion, and more than 500,000 employees, the US parking industry is a crucial component of urban mobility and the overall economy. The industry and its workforce have been directly impacted by coronavirus shutdowns and will play an important role in the eventual resumption of movement and commerce.

Click here to download the press release (PDF).

---

About City Tech Collaborative
City Tech is an urban solutions accelerator that tackles problems too big for any single sector or organization to solve alone. City Tech’s work uses IoT sensing networks, advanced analytics, and urban design to create scalable, market ready solutions. Current initiatives address advanced mobility, healthy cities, connected construction, and emerging growth opportunities. City Tech was born and raised in Chicago, and every city is a potential partner. Visit www.CityTech.org and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About the Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab
Within City Tech’s Advanced Mobility Initiative , the Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab envisions urban parking real estate as a gateway to other transportation modes and commerce. Launched in partnership with Millennium Garages, SP+, Arrive, the National Parking Association, the International Parking & Mobility Institute, and the City of Chicago, the lab pursues scalable solutions to expand access to public transit and other mobility options, enable smart infrastructure management, and demonstrate other value-added space uses. Please visit www.CityTech.org/Parking-Innovation for additional information.

About Millennium Garages
Millennium Garages LLC is a joint venture by infrastructure fund partners that control a long-term, exclusive concession rights and responsibilities for the 3.8 million square foot Millennium Garages system in downtown Chicago. Visit www.MillenniumGarages.com for more information.

About SP+
SP+ facilitates the efficient movement of people, vehicles and personal belongings with the goal of enhancing the consumer experience while improving bottom line results for our clients. The Company provides professional parking management, ground transportation, remote baggage check-in and handling, facility maintenance, security, event logistics, and other technology-driven mobility solutions to aviation, commercial, hospitality, healthcare and government clients across North America. For more information, visit www.SPPlus.com .

About Arrive
Arrive powers the last mile of mobility through smart parking solutions. It offers the only seamless mobility experience that predicts and recommends the best parking solution for any journey. Arrive powers smart parking and other connected mobility services through apps, websites, voice platforms, and in-dash integrations to hundreds of clients including smart cities, automakers, fleets, venues, navigation and voice platforms, as well as to its own ParkWhiz and BestParking consumer brands. For more information, visit www.Arrive.com.

Update: This press release has been updated to reflect the extension of Millennium Garages' parking price reductions through April 30th, 2020.

Share by: