Today, Citizens Still Pay 200 Drams: Suren Grigoryan on Transport Tariff

“There is a very big difference between the previous and the current transport systems. They are fundamentally different at least in terms of rolling stock,” said Yerevan Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan, addressing the increase in transport fare and the introduction of a unified ticketing system.

He recalled that he had also participated in protests against transport price hikes in the past: “We used to say, if it’s a ‘Gazelle,’ there is no new quality, why are you raising the prices? They responded that they were raising the fare to bring in better transport. We countered, saying, let’s bring the better transport first, then you can raise the price. Now those ‘Gazelles’ are no longer around.”

Regarding the extent of the fare increase, Grigoryan noted, “For someone who uses transport daily and purchases a monthly, quarterly, or yearly package, the current project offers something close to 180 drams with the TelSell option.”

He illustrated that, for example, the ticket price will differ for a tourist and a resident who uses transport daily: “We believe that the fare increase to 200 drams for tourists is completely normal, and it is reasonable for it to be more expensive so that daily products can be offered to Yerevan residents at a lower price.”

He also added, “A person who today makes an average of two trips a day for a month pays 100 drams per trip. It doesn’t make sense for them to buy 300 dram tickets every time. They should either purchase a monthly ticket for 11,000 or 10,800 drams, a quarterly ticket for 25,000 or 24,800 drams, or an annual ticket for 110,000 or 108,000 drams. Dividing by the number of trips shows the price.”

According to Grigoryan, this is also about balancing the fares. Discounted fares will be available for specific vulnerable groups: “When you look at the average growth in salaries, the price of transport has remained the same; a fare increase would be logical. When we say quality transport, quality rolling stock has its price.”

He added that the current cost of transport, based on modest calculations, is 200-230 drams: “That’s the calculation that no one can accuse us of calculating in our favor.” He pointed out that citizens are currently paying 200 drams, as passengers pay 100 drams and 100 drams are covered by the budget formed from citizens' payments.

It is also worth noting that we previously reported that transport fares in Yerevan will change from 90 to 500 drams.