Comparison of Public Transport Fees: Response to Claims by Yerevan Municipality

Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Aram Sukiasyan presented the works implemented by the Yerevan Municipality and future works to be done during Azatutyun radio broadcast on April 21.

Addressing the most painful public transport issue in Yerevan, Sukiasyan said that there is almost no capital city in the world where the public transport would cost 100 AMD (20 cent). In fact, Mr. Sukiasyan reproduced the idea of his colleagues according to whom the quality of transport is directly proportional to its tariff, i.e. “you get what you pay for”.

Thus, we examined the prices for public transport in the capitals of comparable countries, and not only were these not higher but in some cases even lower than the 20 cent mentioned by Mr. Sukiasyan.

The public transport tariff (for buses and metro) in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi makes up 50 tetri (100 AMD or 20 cent). Moreover, all the minibuses in Georgia have air conditioners, and most of transport means are buses.

The tariff for buses in Kiev, which has higher average income than Yerevan and a population of almost 3 million, starts from 4 hryvnia (75 AMD or 15 cent). The ticket price for the metro consisting of 52 stations and 3 lines is the same (Yerevan metro network is 5 times smaller).

The residents of Moscow, a city that is dozens of times larger and considerably richer than Yerevan, use the subscription system for public transport. In case of buying a card for using transport for 60 times a month, the residents of Russia’s capital pay 13.3 rubles (110 AMD or 22 cent) for one travel.

And the public transport tariff in Baku is about twice as cheap as that of Yerevan and makes up 0.2 manats (55 AMD or 11 cent). The residents of Chisinau pay almost the same price for travelling by bus – 3 leu (70 AMD or 14 cent).

Hence, in spite of Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Aram Sukiasyan’s claims, the price for public transport in Yerevan is not cheap, and it is even more expensive compared to some cities. Moreover, it will be nearly impossible to find residents stuffed in minibuses in any of the mentioned cities.