Profile

I am a Senior Researcher and European Research Coordinator at the Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR).

With an engineering background that evolved to transport geography, planning, and policy, my research explores the nexus between transport innovations and societal dynamics. I adopt a socio-technical perspective that places societal actors at the heart of innovation. Through an in-depth exploration of societal acceptance, societal implications, and governance of transport innovations, I advocate for more socially constructed innovations beyond the techno-operational emphasis prevalent in scholarly and professional practice.

In my research, I consider transport innovations to be the novel and fast-growing technological or social innovations that allow people to move and accomplish activities in the real, computer-generated or blended worlds. They have the potential for considerable societal implications. Yet, their most prominent impact, lie in the future while in the emergence phase are still uncertain and ambiguous. Examples of transport innovations include automated vehicles, vehicle sharing, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), passenger and freight drones, micro-mobility, Hyperloop, AI applications in the transport system (in real world), as well as virtual and augmented reality tools and apps allowing someone to work, shop, recreate, and socially interact within computer-generated and blended worlds.

My research philosophy is rooted in critical realism. I acknowledge that real world exist (ontological realism), yet our understanding of that world is influenced by social, cultural, ecological, political, psychological, economic and other background factors (epistemological relativism). I strive to understand these background mechanisms in-depth  by developing theories and concepts, empirically exploring them through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and eventually informing effective, human-centered, environmentally and socially sustainable transport policies and innovations.

I have led, contributed, and advised on multiple research projects across Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and within the EU framework research programmes on transport innovations and society, land use and transport interactions, human perceptions of mobility and cycling mobility. My publications on transport innovations and society are among the most read and cited in the field. I have held teaching and research positions at several leading universities, including Delft University of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Technical University of Munich, University of Patras, and the National Technical University of Athens.

2021-today
Senior Researcher & European Research Coordinator, Department of Institutional & Strategic Planning
Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany

2019
August-Wilhelm Scheer Visiting Professor
Chair of Transportation Systems Engineering (TSE), Technical University of Munich, Germany

2018-2021
Head of the Research Group 'Automated driving and new mobility concepts'
Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany
 
2015-2018
Assistant Professor of Smart & Sustainable Transport Systems
Department of Transport and Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands 

2014-2015
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Department of Transport and Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands 

2013-2014
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow | Global Fellowships
Transport and Logistics Group (TLO), Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management (TPM), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

2012-2013
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow | Global Fellowships
Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD), University of California, Berkeley

2008-2012
Adjunct Lecturer
Departmentof Architecture, University of Patras, Greece

2007-2012
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Sustainable Mobility Unit (SMU), Department of Geography & Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece

2002-2006
Ph.D. in Urban and Transport Planning
Department of Geography and Regional Planning, School of Rural & Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece

1995-2001
Diploma – M.Eng. Degree (5-year course) in Surveying Engineering (Transportation Specialization)
School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to my blog!

Conventionally, travel behaviour theory considers travel as a derived demand. This means that travel occurs just because we want to reach a destination and participate in an activity there. In other words, it is the final goal and the benefits to be got from it, that motivates us to make the trip. But is this always true ? I am pretty sure that the first who would disagree with this theory, which has significantly defined the development path of contemporary cities, would be Constantine P. Cavafy with his most known poem “ Ithaka ”: "As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery ... Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich ".   In my case, I would probably agree more with Cavafy, than the rigorous theory of the scientific...
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Stay local or go regional? Urban form effects on vehicle use at different spatial scales: A theoretical concept and its application to the San Francisco Bay Area

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Abstract: This paper explores the respective roles of local and regional characteristics of urban form on vehicle travel. We hypothesize that the effects of urban form on vehicle use at the local and regional levels are complementary, and we introduce the concept of local and regional action spaces, which are defined based on the accessibility of alternative means of transport within an acceptable travel time, to test this hypothesis. Multilevel and ordered logit models are developed for the San Francisco Bay Area to estimate the effects of urban form and socioeconomic characteristics on vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and vehicle trip frequency (for work, shopping, and social/recreational purposes). We find that the two urban scale characteristics exert complementary effects on VKT. However, because people in the San Francisco Bay Area display significantly lower VKT in the local than in the regional action space, we conclude that regional-scale inter-ventions woul...
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Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA

Abstract: This paper explores the extent to which people identify an acceptable travel time for each trip they want to make and investigates the primary characteristics of this behavioural threshold. We assume that an acceptable travel time is defined through utilitarian processes that are related to cognitive and affective evaluations of travel that develop throughout a person’s lifetime. We apply a mixed methods approach to explore our hypothesis, based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with a stratified, according to commuting mode, random sample of 20 individuals living in Berkeley, CA. Our results support the validity of the acceptable travel time concept and offer (a) initial evidence on its variation to the travel mode and sociodemographic characteristics and (b) insights into people’s perceptions, attitudes, feelings and experiences about their travel. Thus, our results can contribute to a better understanding of individuals’ travel decisions and valuation ...
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