One Transport Serves Five Communities in Kotayk Region, Residents Face Route Issues

“You might not imagine, but it takes hours to get from one village to another, and reaching Yerevan is even more difficult. Some days you can arrive on time, and other days you are forced to be late,” said Karine Gevorgyan, a resident of Lusakert village, in an interview with Auroranews.am.

Ms. Gevorgyan lives in Lusakert village in the Kotayk region but works in Karashamb village of the same region. She explains that there has been an ongoing issue with the transport servicing the villages for a long time, making it a serious challenge for villagers to reach their workplaces, as there is a lack of transport, and they are forced to rely on taxis.

“The village is served by only one transport — the number 253 minibus, which provides service to villagers only four times a day. However, even the entrance of this minibus into our village becomes pointless because before reaching us, it passes through three other villages. By the time it arrives, there is no space left, so to avoid being late for work, we must take taxis. The issue is even more significant for students; when they leave home, they are not sure if they will make it to Yerevan for class or not,” she explains.

To get more information on the issue, Auroranews.am contacted the Karashamb village administration, where Arman Simbatyan, the secretary of the staff, responded. Simbatyan did not deny that the number 253 route serves both the Karashamb and Lusakert and Teghenik communities, nor did he deny that the service operates only four times a day. He indicated that the main problem is related to drivers. “There are many complaints that sometimes they enter the villages and come out empty, saying it is pointless to waste gas. We can understand them as the population in the villages is quite small, and the bus schedule is inconvenient. During the day, there is usually no traffic, while people are more numerous in the morning and evening. The community cannot take any action to solve this open issue,” said Simbatyan.

Arman Simbatyan also mentioned that the community administration has reached out to the Kotayk regional administration and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure regarding the problem. When asked if there are any specific proposals or responses received from the ministry or regional administration, Mr. Simbatyan noted that all requests and responses had been in writing and he cannot specifically recall what the answers were. When we asked him to clarify and send the written response via social media, Mr. Simbatyan requested time to find the data and asked us to call back in a day.

The next day, when we contacted the same phone number, we were answered by Zorik Khlygathyan, the community head of Karashamb village. Upon informing the mayor about the purpose of the call and the promised responses, the mayor partly denied what the community staff secretary had said. According to the mayor, there has not been any written request to the ministry or regional administration, but there has been a consultation with Kotayk regional head Romanos Petrosyan, who is reportedly well informed about the issue.

The mayor explained that the problem is actually more serious, as their village is an intermediate one, and according to preliminary data, the transport comes from Bjni, passes through Argeli village, then Teghenik, then Karashamb, and finally Lusakert. In our conversation, the mayor indicated that the heads of the Karashamb and Teghenik communities had requested that the route at least enter the adjacent Teghenik community once in the morning to take students to Yerevan. “We have asked for the route to also enter Teghenik; it is a shame for the people; they don’t even have the opportunity for students to go to class,” Mr. Khlygathyan said.

When we asked how students would return to the village after class, he did not provide a concrete answer. We discussed the issue with the Acting Director of the Transportation Department of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Arman Karapetyan, who told us that this is the first time he has heard about this issue, as there has been no written request until now. “The number 523 route has a clear schedule and is supposed to operate and serve the communities that it previously serviced or for which it has a signed contract. If there is an established route but the carrier is arbitrarily serving less, this route should be revealed and subjected to administrative penalties,” Karapetyan stated.

Responding to the Teghenik community's issue, Karapetyan said this was the first time he had heard that the mayors had requested the route to enter the village once in the morning. “We will address this issue as soon as possible, but it would be good if the communities submit a written request to the ministry; I am confident that beneficial solutions for the communities will be found through discussions,” added Arman Karapetyan.

Jemma Sardarayan