  This report outlines the concepts, mechanisms and inner dynamics of the BEAM
(Behavior, Energy, Autonomy, and Mobility) modeling framework. BEAM is an
open-source large-scale high-resolution transportation model that harnesses the
principles of the actor model of computation to build a powerful and efficient
agent-based model of travel behavior. It allows a detailed microscopic view of
how people make travel choices and interact with the transportation system,
enabling more accurate simulations of human mobility and urban transport
networks. It also allows the analysis of numerous spatially defined but
interacting layers, and integrates them into a cohesive representation of a
regional transportation system. This integrated picture provides invaluable
insights to policy makers and other stakeholders about how changes to the
transportation system result in changes to traffic congestion, mode share,
energy use, and emissions throughout a modeled region. These capabilities are
demonstrated with a case study of New York City that showcase BEAM's
application in a very large and intricate urban transportation system, without
relying on existing travel demand models. The unique ability of BEAM to
simulate individual behaviors, integrate with other models, and adapt to
different real-world scenarios underscores its importance in the rapidly
evolving field of transportation and emphasizes its potential as a valuable
proof-of-concept tool to contribute to more informed and effective policy and
planning decisions.
