This is something that irks me too. If you're an authority implementing paid parking, price it appropriately so that most of the potential clients would rather

This is something that irks me too. If you're an authority implementing paid parking, price it appropriately so that most of the potential clients would rather chose to park and pay instead of hunting for free parking in some other parts of the city. Once you have that parking lot full most of the time, only then you may juggle around with the price in order to bring it closer to a more desirable level.