Eleftheria Kontou

For More Information

• Research Group Website

Education

• Diploma, Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 2011
• MSc, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2013
• PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Florida, 2016

Biography

Eleftheria (Ria) Kontou is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2019. Her research interests include transportation planning, electrification and emerging vehicle technologies operations, as well as transportation and energy sectors interdependencies. Prior to beginning her faculty position at UIUC, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and conducted research in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her PhD in Civil Engineering, focusing on transportation systems, from the University of Florida. Dr. Kontou holds a MSc from Virginia Tech and a BSc from National Technical University of Athens in Civil Engineering. She is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies of the National Academies and its Young Member Coordinating Council Chair.

Academic Positions

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Jan 2017-Aug 2018
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Aug 2018-Oct 2019
• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Oct 2019-Present

Resident Instruction

• UTM 598: Urban Transportation Models, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, and Fall 2022
• CEE 201: Systems Engineering and Economics, Spring 2020 and Spring 2022

Research Interests

• Transportation and Energy Interdependencies
• Sustainable Emerging Transportation Systems
• Transportation Electrification Planning and Policy

Selected Articles in Journals

• Greene, D., Kontou, E., Borlaug, B., Brooker, A., & Muratori M. (2020). Public charging infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles: What is it worth? Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 78, 102182.
• Guo, S., & Kontou, E. (2021). Disparities and equity issues in electric vehicles rebate allocation. Energy Policy, 154, 112291.
• Kontou, E., & McDonald, N. (2021). Associating Ridesourcing with Road Safety Outcomes: Insights from Austin Texas. PloS one 16 (3), e0248311.
• Kontou, E., Garikapati, V., & Hou, Y. (2020). Reducing ridesourcing empty vehicle travel with future travel demand prediction. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 121, 102826.
• Kontou, E., Kepaptsoglou, K., Charalampakis, A. E., & Karlaftis, M. G. (2014). The bus to depot allocation problem revisited: a genetic algorithm. Public Transport, 6(3), 237-255.
• Kontou, E., Liu, C., Xie, F., Wu, X., & Lin, Z. (2019). Understanding the linkage between electric vehicle charging network coverage and charging opportunity using GPS travel data. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 98, 1-13.
• Kontou, E., McDonald, N. C., Brookshire, K., Pullen-Seufert, N. C., & LaJeunesse, S. (2020). US active school travel in 2017: prevalence and correlates. Preventive medicine reports, 17, 101024.
• Kontou, E., Murray-Tuite, P., & Wernstedt, K. (2016). Commuter Adaptation in Response to Hurricane Sandy’s Damage. Natural Hazards Review, 18(2), 04016010. 
• Kontou, E., Murray-Tuite, P., & Wernstedt, K. (2017). Duration of commute travel changes in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy using accelerated failure time modeling. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 100, 170-181.
• Kontou, E., Yin, Y., & Ge, Y. E. (2017). Cost-effective and ecofriendly plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging management. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2628), 87-98.
• Kontou, E., Yin, Y., & Lin, Z. (2015). Socially optimal electric driving range of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 39, 114-125. 
• Kontou, E., Yin, Y., Lin, Z., & He, F. (2017). Socially optimal replacement of conventional with electric vehicles for the US household fleet. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 11(10), 749-763.
• Liu, S., & Kontou, E. (2022). Transportation Energy Vulnerability and its Spatial Patterns in the United States. Sustainable Cities and Society, 103805.
• Muratori, M., Kontou, E., & Eichman, J. (2019). Electricity rates for electric vehicle direct current fast charging in the United States. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 113, 109235.
• Porter, A., Kontou, E., McDonald, N. C., & Evenson, K. (2020). Perceived barriers to commuter and exercise bicycling in U.S. adults: The 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Journal of Transport and Health, 16, 108820.
• Purba, D. S. D., Kontou, E., & Vogiatzis, C. (2022). Evacuation route planning for alternative fuel vehicles. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 143, 103837.
• Wenzel, T., Rames, C., Kontou, E., & Henao, A. (2019). Travel and energy implications of ridesourcing service in Austin, Texas. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 70, 18-34.
• Wu, Y. C., & Kontou, E. (2022). Designing electric vehicle incentives to meet emission reduction targets. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 107, 103320.

Journal Editorships

• Scientific Reports, Civil Engineering Editorial Board since 2022
• Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Editorial Advisory Board (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/transportation-research-part-d-transport-and-environment/editorial-board), since 2022
• Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Early Career Editorial Advisory Board (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/transportation-research-part-c-emerging-technologies/editorial-board), since 2021

Professional Societies

• Chair, Transportation Research Board Young Members Coordinating Council, 2021-2023
• Transportation Research Board Affiliate
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Associate Member

Honors

• USDOT Council of University Transportation Centers-Cambridge Systematics New Faculty Award (Jan 2023)
• 2022 Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Faculty Scholar (2022-23)

Teaching Honors

• ISEE Levenick Teaching Sustainability Fellow (2020-21)

Research Honors

• NSF CAREER Award (2023)

Recent Courses Taught

• CEE 201 - Systems Engrg & Economics
• CEE 598 UTM (CEE 598 UTO) - Urban Transportation Models