Kontou Research Group – Transportation Systems

Welcome to the Kontou Research Group!

Our group is part of the internationally recognized and top-ranked Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our research interests are in sustainable transportation systems planning and operations. We develop quantitative models and data-driven solutions to emerging mobility challenges.

Main Research Thrusts

Transportation Electrification & Energy Use

We are mathematically modeling transportation electrification and charging infrastructure deployment, determining policies that accelerate decarbonization, and capturing interdependencies with the electricity grid. Our objective is to advance systems engineering knowledge and lead the way to a more sustainable transportation sector by understanding the trade-offs between adoption and use costs, environmental externalities, and energy use.

*Optimal plug-in hybrid vehicles charging management (Kontou et al., 2017)*

*Electricity costs for electric vehicle fast charging providers* *(Muratori, Kontou & Eichman, 2019)*

Emerging Sustainable Mobility Systems

*Ridesourcing empty miles savings from future travel demand diffusion (Kontou et al., 2020)*

We advance socio-technical systems science through modeling of emerging mobility systems and by integrating demand modeling and operations simulation. Our goal is to determine technology and policy portfolios that make such emerging transportation systems financially and environmentally sustainable, serving communities in an equitable manner.