Epress.am News from Armenia
Starting from Jul. 1, one-way fares for the Yerevan metro will increase to 100 drams (about $0.28 USD) instead of the current 50 drams (about $0.14 USD), said Yerevan mayor Karen Karapetyan, speaking to journalists in the Armenian capital today. Note, 100 drams is the cost of public transportation buses, trolley buses and minibuses (marshrutkas).
This way, Karapetyan said, city hall intends to foster the development and use the maximum potential of Yerevan’s subway system.
According to the mayor, 20 million passengers annually make use of Yerevan’s metro, which comprises 5–6% of public transport passengers in the capital. Armenia’s state budget subsidized the metro to the tune of 1 billion 845 million drams annually.
Recall, in February of this year, deputy finance minister Vardan Aramyan, during the question and answer period in parliament, had said that subways are considered around the world to operate at a loss but a necessary means of transport from a social perspective, which is why 65% is funded from the state budget, while only 35% of revenues come from fares.
Aramyan had said that in the future, due to the fare increase, the metro will be self-financed.
Earlier, a Facebook group had been created, with the then-450 members protesting the looming fare hike.
One user, Artur Baghdasaryan, wrote, “A little while later, they’ll tear apart the metro and sell the railway tracks. I won’t be surprised at all if that happens.”
Another Facebook user wrote, “All that’s left is to make the city transport [fares] 200 drams, to be done with it.”
“These guys are complete IDIOTS… let them increase the prices of everything; with which part are they thinking? Let us live in peace… What will be the end of this? … I can’t find the words, I don’t know… Rather, I do find [the words], but I can’t freely express myself, because I would write the worst words… do you understand?” wrote another user by the name of Arturo Sayan.
Facebook user Haykanush Arshakyan proposed a way to protest the city’s decision: don’t take the metro for one week:
“Come, let’s protest by not taking the metro for a week, let’s see what will happen. Perhaps through this way they’ll realize that the fare increase is uncalled-for.”