Pricing to decongest roads

On most Sunday mornings, I go to a nearby theatre to watch a movie. Some years ago, parking on the road along the mall housing the theatre was free and I always took my car. Later, a parking charge of Rs 20 was introduced. I continued to use my car. Some months ago, the charge was raised to Rs 30. I stopped using my car (mostly), and now take an auto for the journey. There's thus atleast one less car taking up precious road space on Sunday morning. Classic market forces at work - as the price of one good (private car parking) increases, users will switch to a substitute (using autos/taxis or trains/buses).

Given that road space is a very scarce resource in Bombay, and that it is very expensive to create further supply of this resource (flyovers can't be built everywhere), the only solution is for the price of the resource to go up. Parking charges (on designated roads, rather than dedicated parking lots) should ideally go up to a minimum of Rs 100 or so, to really deter the unthinking use of cars in Bombay. Of course, public transport services like buses and trains should be augmented and improved in tandem.