Hayk Marutyan: Under citizens` pressure, municipality removed fare  increase project from agenda

ArmInfo.Under the pressure of the citizens, the municipality removed from its agenda the project 

of increasing the public transport fares. Former Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan stated in a video message.

"This proves that they (the capital's authorities - ed. note) do not 

know how to govern, do not  try to put themselves in people's 

situation, do not know anything, do not make calculations, and 

decisions are made out of nowhere, without discussion or assessment 

of the consequences," he said.  Referring to statements by 

municipality representatives that new transport costs more, Marutyan 

noted that in Western countries transport is also expensive, but it 

is many times better, the salaries of drivers are higher, and the 

fare is very low. "How is this done? This is called a subsidy. If you 

don't know what this means, then go study it. The city should 

subsidize from its budget; if the community does not have enough 

funds, then let the state subsidize," he said, addressing the current 

metropolitan authorities. The former mayor also questioned the 

statement that the project was withdrawn for revision after 

discussions at the mayor's office.

If the community doesn't have enough funds, then let the state 

subsidize it," he said, addressing the current metropolitan 

authorities. The former mayor also questioned the statement that the 

project was withdrawn for revision after discussions at the mayor's 

office.

Marutyan considered the unity of citizens to be the key to success in 

this matter . "This means that we must continue to protect our rights 

and must be united in the struggle," he concluded.

In turn, the leader of the "Mother Armenia" movement Andranik 

Tevanyan noted that his team will be consistent in this matter. "We 

have our own proposals and model regarding urban transport. We will 

present this model to the public and prove that it is possible to 

have decent passenger transport, a reformed transport system and low 

fares. Urban transport is a social project and should not be 

considered as a field for extorting money from citizens," he said.

At the same time, the oppositionist emphasized that through joint 

efforts it is possible to achieve anything, including a complete 

change of power, which is the main condition for ensuring security, 

peace and a prosperous life.

Today, Yerevan Municipality issued a message stating that the project 

to introduce a unified ticketing system in Yerevan was removed from 

the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Council of Elders.  

Commenting on this decision, Yerevan Vice-Mayor Suren Grigoryan noted 

that the draft decision aimed at introducing a unified ticket system 

has become the subject of wide discussion.  

It should be noted that the authorities of the capital, "digesting" 

the more than 10-fold increase in the cost of parking in Yerevan 

(from 12 thousand to 160 thousand drams), decided to increase the 

price of public transport in the city.

Yerevan Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan said during a recent meeting 

with journalists that there will be different tariff packages for 

public transport, so it was difficult to specify the exact amount of 

price increase. At the same time, he said that when calculating for 

60 trips per month (we are talking about 30 calendar days), it will 

be necessary to pay 11,000 drams for the ticket in cash, and 10,800 

drams when paying through the Telcell system. Similarly, quarterly 

and annual tickets will cost 25,000 AMD (24,800 AMD through Telcell) 

and 110,000 AMD (108,000 AMD through Telcell), respectively. 

"Accordingly, the cost of transport in one direction will be 180 

drams instead of the current 100," he said.  as reported by the local 

media, the fare of transport travel will range from 300 to 500 drams 

per trip. Let us note that this is an unaffordable price for 

citizens, many of whose monthly income is less than $200.