Epress.am News from Armenia
There have been reports today that inter-city public transportation coming into Yerevan has been halted and taxi drivers have significantly raised their rates ahead of the Armenian National Congress rally set to begin at 6 pm today.
Since this morning, public transport vehicles servicing the Yerevan-Echmiadzin route have not been operating, while taxi drivers bringing people to Yerevan have charged as much as 500 drams (about $1.35 US) per person instead of the usual rate of 300 drams (about $0.81) per person.
Public transportation along the Yerevan-Armavir route has also halted, while taxi drivers are charging 1,000 drams (about $2.70 US) per person for the trip. Public transport is also not servicing the Yerevan-Lusakert route, while in Sevan, not only has inter-city public transportation halted its operations, but also taxi drivers are refusing to drive people to the Armenian capital.
Ashtarak residents are also unable to get to Yerevan due to the absence of transportation options.
Armenian National Congress representative Tigran Arakelyan told Epress.am that public transport dispatchers in the city of Hrazdan are telling people, “Since it’s early, go to Yerevan if you’re going to go; otherwise, you don’t know what will happen after an hour.”