Epress.am News from Armenia
Created a few days ago was a Facebook group called “Dignified transport,” which already has at least 500 members. Speaking to Epress.am, group administrator and Yerevan resident Arman Gharibyan described the group’s activities.
“We, those concerned with the state of [public] transportation [in Armenia], had thought about doing something long ago. It’s not possible to live in Armenia and not to be discontented with the transportation, except for the metro, which, regretfully, does not serve all communities.
“Minibuses [commonly referred to as marshrutkas] work very poorly; they don’t follow their obligations listed in the tenders; don’t approach stops at the correct frequency, but rather are intentionally late, so that they can fit as many people as possible in one vehicle and earn a lot of money,” he said.
According to Gharibyan, this is an issue of national security (or rather, safety): the nation’s backbone is being broken in public transportation — both physically and psychologically.
“Every time I am forced to stand in public transport [crouched over, as one cannot stand straight up in the minibuses], I feel dishonored, offended. Perhaps we don’t realize it, but that’s a daily stress for all of us,” he said.
Gharibyan noted that the vast majority of the population make use of the minibuses, as a result of which people are either late getting to work or are forced to travel in an inhumane state.
“The time has come to put an end to this situation that’s incompatible with human dignity. We are going to demand the state provide dignified transport to the public. This is that problem which cannot be refused; if it will be [refused], we won’t tolerate it, we will fight,” he said.
The group “Dignified transport’ is not yet fully formed: the group’s activities will be confirmed at the meeting this Saturday, Gharibyan added.