ParkChicago®Map vs UI Ride
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ParkChicago®Map
Find affordable on-street parking in Chicago with an interactive map. View real-time availability, rates, and get directions to your chosen spot. This free service complements a payment app for a seamless parking experience.
- Interactive parking map
- Search for parking spots
- View parking availability
- Get directions to parking
- See parking rates and restrictions
- Predictive availability feature
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The ParkChicago® team introduces ParkChicago®Map, the official on-street parking map app. ParkChicago®Map gives you access to over 36,000 competitively priced parking spaces and helps you find your ideal parking spot. Use the app’s interactive map and search features to find parking at the lowest prices in Chicago city limits so you can skip the garage fees and reservations. ParkChicago®Map is a free service which complements the ParkChicago® app, where you have the convenience of paying for parking (and extending time) with your phone. Get Started Today: - Download the free ParkChicago®Map app - No sign up, no email, no commitments, No hassle - Search for and view parking with the interactive map – use the intuitive pinch-to-zoom feature to view details - Click on the metered spot to view hours of operation and availability - Get directions to the parking spot - Select ParkChicago® to pay for parking The Perks of ParkChicago®Map: - Effortlessly find the most convenient and affordable parking spots in Chicago - Use the predictive availability feature to see when a parking spot will be available over the next week - View metered parking space information such as rates, limits and restrictions - Keep it all mobile! Pay for metered parking via the linked ParkChicago® app Make your parking experience as convenient as possible - download ParkChicago®Map today!
UI Ride
This app provides an affordable and efficient shuttle service connecting Urbana-Champaign and Chicago. It's designed for University of Illinois System faculty, staff, and students to facilitate official business and research collaborations.
- Intercampus shuttle service
- Connects Urbana-Champaign and Chicago
- Affordable transportation
- Efficient and convenient
- For University of Illinois System members
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UI Ride is an intercampus shuttle service connecting Urbana-Champaign and Chicago to provide an affordable, efficient, and convenient mode of transportation for the University of Illinois System faculty, staff, and students to conduct official University of Illinois business as well as to encourage and facilitate research collaborations. The University of Illinois System’s UI Ride shuttle service is operated by Facilities & Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with Facilities Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: UI Ride at 3.2 against ParkChicago®Map's 2.1. ParkChicago®Map's advantage is ratings volume (121 vs 5) and review sentiment (8% vs 0%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
UI Ride holds the better App Store score, 3.2 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ParkChicago®Map has 121 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 8% of ParkChicago®Map's written reviews are positive against 0% of UI Ride's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ParkChicago®Map ships an update every 7 months, UI Ride every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ParkChicago®Map | UI Ride |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (121 ratings) | 3.2 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 8.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 121 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chicago Parking Meters, LLC | University of Illinois |
Customer experience
ParkChicago®Map
UI Ride
Bugs and requests
ParkChicago®Map
Reported bugs
13 issues- App crashes on opening
- App does not open
- Cannot change card on file
- Parking availability is inaccurate
- Meter locations are not accurate
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Zoom in & out function doesn't work well
- Most buttons don't do anything
- Cannot sign in
- App is not formatted properly on iPhone X
- Search box does not bring up keyboard
- Green box displayed on map with no meter info
- Return to meter view button not functional
- Color scheme not accessible for colorblind users
Requested features
12 requests- Integrate into the main ParkChicago app
- Fix app crashing issues
- Improve parking availability accuracy
- Fix meter location accuracy
- Fix zoom functionality
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Fix non-functional buttons
- Allow card changes
- Fix sign-in issues
- Improve formatting for iPhone X
- Address colorblind accessibility
- Update for iPhone 14 Pro
- Allow searching by location, not just meter number
UI Ride
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ParkChicago®Map
No in-app purchases
UI Ride
No in-app purchases
