The Project is Approved: Yerevan's Public Transport Fare Will Change from September

The Yerevan City Council has approved the project for setting new public transport fares with 32 votes in favor, 2 against, and no abstentions. The council groups "National Progress" and "Mother Armenia" did not participate in the voting.

Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan expressed confidence that the system will be effective: "We will soon publish a calculator on the website that will allow you to plan your public transport usage financially, and I assure you that the horrifying and alarming price increases that were previously raised and are being discussed today do not correspond to reality," Avinyan said, urging residents to familiarize themselves with the project personally.

Yerevan's Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan noted that the general logic of the project was thoroughly discussed at the previous council meeting and addressed the changes made since the first reading. "Regarding the three ticket packages—monthly, quarterly, and annual—the traffic restrictions have been removed, and the packages will allow unlimited travel within the specified periods. Secondly, the three ticket packages are designed to be more affordable compared to the initial draft. Specifically, the rates for monthly, quarterly, and annual packages have been set at 9000 and 8800 drams, 24000 and 23600 drams, 90000 and 88000 drams, depending on the type of card, either digital or physical," Grigoryan stated.

He also mentioned that concerns raised by passengers who do not frequently use public transport have been partially addressed, adding that the 10-trip pass will cost 2200 and 2100 drams, depending on whether it is a physical or electronic card.

"The project was put to public discussion, and considering the need for further discussion, we listened to all opinions and objections; therefore, the current version of the project has two goals: to continue the subsidies but also to keep that subsidy within a certain logic without making disproportionate expenditures at the expense of other sectors, and secondly, to eliminate the negative phenomena existing in the shadow form, to have more accurate data for making data-driven decisions in the future," Grigoryan explained.

The Deputy Mayor indicated that the implementation of the project is scheduled for September 1, with 171 buses measuring 8.6 meters in length already having been put into service. He noted that with the project coming into effect, the privilege packages will also need to be operational, which the municipality will have time to work on. Grigoryan assured that international experience will be applied in this matter, and thus the issues of privileged groups (students, socially vulnerable individuals) will be a priority for the municipality.