It makes total sense to me. If you want to discourage long-term parking, you can either impose a time limit or increase the fee after an hour. NYC has done both. If you run into a store for a quick purchase, you don't pay too much. If you use on-street parking while you sit at a desk all day, you will be penalized. The solution isn't to move your car every hour, since there's no guarantee another space will be available in clogged NYC. The solution is to park in a deck or take the subway (only $7 for an all-day pass).