“It’s No Longer Possible to Work for 100 Drams: They Simply Need to Have the Courage to Stand Up and Tell the People,” Says Hrant Yeghiazaryan

In this situation, the inspections in Yerevan's public transport conducted by the city hall are a testament to the unprofessionalism of the city authorities. People are unable to maintain operations for just 100 drams, and on top of that, inspections are being conducted. This was stated by Hrant Yeghiazaryan, the president of the Transporters Union, in an interview with Tert.am's correspondent.

According to him, the inspections and the removal of certain vehicles from routes will exacerbate the already dire state of public transport. “If one route is serviced by 10 vehicles, and you remove 3, only 7 are left to serve the passengers of the 3 removed vehicles. The burden on those 7 increases, and the problems multiply—breakdowns become more frequent,” Yeghiazaryan noted.

Yeghiazaryan emphasizes that when implementing a new transport network, an increase in fares is inevitable. However, he believes that there should be a rise beforehand to ensure the operational viability of the current fleet. “They simply need to have the courage to stand up and tell the people that it's no longer possible to work for 100 drams. They should say, ‘We ask for your forgiveness for our actions.’ In 2013, transporters who said, ‘Let’s switch to another fare,’ were met with a ‘no, even 100 drams is too much’ response, and those who said ‘no’ are now part of the city hall leadership,” he added.