Because Wichita is not a busy city and they also tolled the free parking lots they built a decade back. If you want to go to the cultural heart or file a document at the courthouse you better be prepared to walk two miles or pay for parking.

I get that free parking is a novelty everywhere else, though I compare that to wondering why anyone would want automated tax returns when you can just pay for turbo tax, but Wichita is new to that and of all the options to pad the revenue stream the mayor picked the one that takes it out of the citizens and small businesses.