We Can No Longer Serve Routes for 100 Drams Fare: Drivers' Protest

According to the "Zhoghovurd" newspaper, bus and minibus drivers operating in Yerevan were supposed to hold a protest today by refusing to operate routes, but the Yerevan municipality intervened to prevent it.

The head of the Passenger Transport Association, Grant Yeghiazaryan, stated in an interview with "Zhoghovurd": “The city would have been completely paralyzed; however, the municipality proposed a meeting, and we are postponing our protest.”

He continued, “They said, ‘We are ready to listen to you.’ Of course, we do not know how satisfactory their answers will be. We are neither enemies of the residents of this city nor of the municipality, but we have been transporting people at half price for 11 years now. We can no longer make ends meet; expenses are too high.”

Drivers express their dissatisfaction, insisting that they can no longer serve routes at a fare of 100 drams. Yeghiazaryan remarked, “A fare increase does not mean the passengers should pay more. The government can subsidize, or it can create opportunities for transport companies to purchase fuel at lower prices than the market. Alternatively, the municipality could reduce or eliminate certain taxes.”

Incidentally, the meeting is scheduled to take place this morning.