So I recently had to turn off realistic parking because it leads to gridlock everywhere in my downtown core. I am not sure how the AI works, but it seems that they pick random parking spots that are in somewhat of a close proximity of their destination and try to go there. After 10 attempts they just give up.

The problem is I see them driving past open parking spots right next to their destination because they're trying to go to a parking spot somewhat down the street or one street over, and when that fails they choose another random destination that may be on the other side of the destination. All of my streets have street parkings, and I have a few parking lot and garage assets as well. So parking availability is green across the board. And the parking garages are all <10% full.

My suggestion would be to rework the parking AI when using realistic parking. Specifically, when a Cim leaves their origin, an open parking spot near their destination gets tagged and they head right to that spot. And since that spot is tagged, no other vehicle can take it until the Cim leaves. That way you don't need to program in 10 attempts before they give up. There won't be any attempts because a parking spot near their destination is immediately tagged.

I'm not sure if this can be worked into a update to TMPE, or if somebody can program an add-on mod.

For clarity, I have no mods that conflict with TMPE or alter the driving AI.