Hayk Marutyan: Under citizens` pressure, municipality removed fare  increase project from agenda

ArmInfo.Under the pressure of the citizens, the municipality removed from its agenda the project  of increasing the public transport fares. Former Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan stated in a video message.

"This proves that they (the capital's authorities - ed. note) do not  know how to govern, do not  try to put themselves in people's  situation, do not know anything, do not make calculations, and  decisions are made out of nowhere, without discussion or assessment  of the consequences," he said.  Referring to statements by  municipality representatives that new transport costs more, Marutyan  noted that in Western countries transport is also expensive, but it  is many times better, the salaries of drivers are higher, and the  fare is very low. "How is this done? This is called a subsidy. If you  don't know what this means, then go study it. The city should  subsidize from its budget; if the community does not have enough  funds, then let the state subsidize," he said, addressing the current  metropolitan authorities. The former mayor also questioned the  statement that the project was withdrawn for revision after  discussions at the mayor's office.

If the community doesn't have enough funds, then let the state  subsidize it," he said, addressing the current metropolitan  authorities. The former mayor also questioned the statement that the  project was withdrawn for revision after discussions at the mayor's  office.

Marutyan considered the unity of citizens to be the key to success in  this matter . "This means that we must continue to protect our rights  and must be united in the struggle," he concluded.

In turn, the leader of the "Mother Armenia" movement Andranik  Tevanyan noted that his team will be consistent in this matter. "We  have our own proposals and model regarding urban transport. We will  present this model to the public and prove that it is possible to  have decent passenger transport, a reformed transport system and low  fares. Urban transport is a social project and should not be  considered as a field for extorting money from citizens," he said.

At the same time, the oppositionist emphasized that through joint  efforts it is possible to achieve anything, including a complete  change of power, which is the main condition for ensuring security,  peace and a prosperous life.

Today, Yerevan Municipality issued a message stating that the project  to introduce a unified ticketing system in Yerevan was removed from  the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Council of Elders.   Commenting on this decision, Yerevan Vice-Mayor Suren Grigoryan noted  that the draft decision aimed at introducing a unified ticket system  has become the subject of wide discussion.  

It should be noted that the authorities of the capital, "digesting"  the more than 10-fold increase in the cost of parking in Yerevan  (from 12 thousand to 160 thousand drams), decided to increase the  price of public transport in the city.

Yerevan Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan said during a recent meeting  with journalists that there will be different tariff packages for  public transport, so it was difficult to specify the exact amount of  price increase. At the same time, he said that when calculating for  60 trips per month (we are talking about 30 calendar days), it will  be necessary to pay 11,000 drams for the ticket in cash, and 10,800  drams when paying through the Telcell system. Similarly, quarterly  and annual tickets will cost 25,000 AMD (24,800 AMD through Telcell)  and 110,000 AMD (108,000 AMD through Telcell), respectively.  "Accordingly, the cost of transport in one direction will be 180  drams instead of the current 100," he said.  as reported by the local  media, the fare of transport travel will range from 300 to 500 drams  per trip. Let us note that this is an unaffordable price for  citizens, many of whose monthly income is less than $200.