I think people need to understand that parking is a good and not a god-given right. (Though I can see why they get so defensive ant territorial - that's just human nature). Like another good, it should follow the rules of supply and demand.
The fact is that it has been underpriced for so long and there are consequences for that:
- Difficulty to finding free parking leading to increased congestion and pollution
- Encouraging private ownership over car share
- Encouraging car ownership over other modes of transportation
- Underutilization of underground parking spaces
- Consumption of land surface that could be put to more productive uses
This 'hike' is really a correction of prices that have been egregiously low for so long