Eleftheria Kontou
Primary Research Area
- Transportation Engineering
Research Areas
For More Information
Biography
Dr. Kontou is an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on sustainable and electrified transportation systems planning and management. She received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida, her MSc from Virginia Tech, and a Diploma from the National Technical University of Athens. She was a postdoctoral research associate at the Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the City and Regional Planning Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Alternative Fuels and Technologies (AMS40) and the past Chair of TRB's Young Members Coordinating Council. She is a 2023 NSF CAREER awardee, a 2023 Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC)-Cambridge Systematics New Faculty Award recipient, a 2022 Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Faculty Scholar, a 2021 US Frontiers of Engineering invited participant, and a Levenick Sustainability Teaching Fellow at the University of Illinois. She is an Associate Editor of the Transportation Research Part D journal and an Early Career Advisory Board member of Transportation Research Part C journal. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation.
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
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 Urbana-Champaign, Oct 2019-Present
Journal Editorships
- Special Issue TRD Guest Editor: Emerging Solutions and Policies for Transportation Electrification (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/transportation-research-part-d-transport-and-environment/about/call-for-papers#emerging-solutions-and-policies-for-transportation-electrification), 2023
- Scientific Reports, Civil Engineering Editorial Board since 2022
- Transportation Research Part D (TRD): Transport and Environment, Associate Editor (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
- AAAS, Member, 2021-Present
- NASEM Transportation Research Board, Young Members Coordinating Council, Chair, 2021-2024
- NASEM Transportation Research Board Committee of Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies (AMS40) of the National Academies, Member and Communications Coordinator, 2021-2025
- NASEM Transportation Research Board, Affiliate and Exofficio Executive Committee Member, 2021-2024
- American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Associate Member and Sustainable Transportation Committee Corresponding Member
Research Interests
- Transportation and Energy Systems Interdependencies
- Sustainable Emerging Transportation Systems
- Transportation Electrification Planning and Policy
Primary Research Area
- Transportation Engineering
Research Areas
Selected Articles in Journals
- Bhargava, R., Zhang, R., & Kontou, E. (2024). Heterogeneity of Land Uses near Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and their Affordability in Chicago, Illinois. Findings. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.125835
- Chen, X., & Kontou E. (2023). Estimating the Electric Vehicle Charging Demand of Multi-Unit Dwelling Residents in the United States. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability.
- Guo, S., & Kontou, E. (2021). Disparities and equity issues in electric vehicles rebate allocation. Energy Policy, 154, 112291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112291
- Liu, S., Vlachokostas, A., & Kontou, E. (2025). Leveraging electric vehicles as a resiliency solution for residential backup power during outages. Energy, 134613.
- Liu, S., Vlachokostas, A., & Kontou, E. (2025). Resilience and environmental benefits of electric school buses as backup power for educational functions continuation during outages. Building and Environment, 269, 112329.
- Liu, S., Vlachokostas, A., Si, C., & Kontou, E. (2024). Coupled management of electric vehicle workplace charging and office building loads. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 134, 104317.
- Liu, S., & Kontou, E. (2022). Transportation Energy Vulnerability and its Spatial Patterns in the United States. Sustainable Cities and Society, 103805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103805
- Purba, D. S. D., Kontou, E., & Vogiatzis, C. (2022). Evacuation route planning for alternative fuel vehicles. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 143, 103837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2022.103837
- Purba, D., Balisi, S., & Kontou, E. (2024). Refueling Station Location Model to Support Evacuation of Alternative Fuel Vehicles. Transportation Research Record, 2678(1), 521-538.
- Wu, Y. C., & Kontou, E. (2022). Designing electric vehicle incentives to meet emission reduction targets. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 107, 103320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103320
- Ye, T., Liu, S., & Kontou, E. (2024). Managed residential electric vehicle charging minimizes electricity bills while meeting driver and community preferences. Transport Policy.
- Zhang, R., & Kontou, E. (2025). Revenue-Maximizing Shared Parking and Electric Vehicle Charging Management in Multi-Unit Dwellings. Transportation Research Record, 03611981241289413.
- Zhang, R., Horesh, N., Kontou, E., & Zhou, Y. (2023). Electric Vehicle Community Charging Hubs in Multi-Unit Dwellings: Scheduling and Techno-Economic Assessment. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 120, 103776.
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.11.011
- Kontou, E., & McDonald, N. (2021). Associating Ridesourcing with Road Safety Outcomes: Insights from Austin Texas. PloS one 16 (3), e0248311. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248311
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2020.102826
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2018.11.008
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.101024
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.04.015
- 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. https://doi.org/10.3141/2628-10
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2017.1313341
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.042
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2020.100820
- Vogiatzis, C., & Kontou, E. (2025). Case—Racial bias in automated traffic law enforcement and the price of unjustness. INFORMS Transactions on Education, 25(2), 128-135.
- 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.03.005
Honors
- 2023 Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC)-Cambridge Systematics New Faculty Award (2023)
- 2022 Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Faculty Scholar (2022-23)
Teaching Honors
- iSEE Levenick Teaching Sustainability Fellow (2020-21)
Research Honors
- 2023 INFORMS Case Competition Runner-up for paper "Racial bias in automated traffic law enforcement and the price of unjustness" (2023)
- 2023 INFORMS Chicago IMPACTful OR/Analytics Researcher of the Year (2023)
- NSF CAREER Award (2023-2028)
Public Service Honors
- Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation (IACT) Researcher of the Year Leadership Award (Dec 2022)