also worth mentioning the Smithsonian air and space museum (there are two, the one people know about on the national mall, and the less well known but way better one somewhere in virginia) -- the latter one also pulls the same stunt - free entry, expensive parking. Also see: many of our state and national parks.

Clearly these museums are either (a) underfunded (2) overspending (c) both, thusly operating in a capitalistic fashion. kind of silly since the purpose is knowledge for the people. imagine a library with free borrowing and return of books and resources, free internet, but parking at the library is $10.