Epress.am News from Armenia
The drivers of inter-city public transport minibuses continue to end their routes at the Rossiya mall stop, but every day they wait for orders from above to stop elsewhere, one of the drivers of the Masis-Yerevan route told Epress.am today.
“They say in order to avoid traffic congestion in the city, marshrutkas [minibuses] have to stop at the station. Well it’s been three years there’s been such talk,” he said.
None of the drivers operating the Artashat-Yerevan route wished to respond to our question of whether rumors of moving the location of the bus stop were true.
“For all questions, contact the directors,” they repeated.
As previously reported, a passenger coming from Artashat (who did not wish to identify himself) said beginning tomorrow, the minibuses coming from Artashat will stop near the Gordzaranayin or Sasuntsi David metro stop. The unnamed passenger also said the driver informed them that this is so that the number of passengers using the metro doesn’t drop. (Recall, the one-way fare for riding the metro in the Armenian capital doubled on Jul. 1: the previous fare of 50 drams is now 100 drams — a move protested by many residents.)
Epress.am contacted Yerevan City Hall with the aim of getting clarification on the issue, however, the public relations department informed us that the RA Ministry of Transport and Communications is the state agency to contact for questions related to inter-city transport.
“When the transport and communications ministry provides licenses to this or that transport company, its A and B points are also conditionally defined. And if there are changes in this issue, they are coordinated with city hall,” said the municipality representative.
The transport and communications ministry, however, informed Epress.am that the Yerevan stop of inter-city transport minibuses is decided by Yerevan City Hall.