Bus and minibus fees in the Armenian capital have stood at 100 drams (25 U.S. cents) per ride for over two decades. Avinian moved in early February to replace them with a complex tariff system involving electronic payments for season tickets valid from one week to a year.
He and other municipality officials said that higher bus fares are necessary for cutting losses incurred by Yerevan’s transport network and buying more buses needed by it.
Opposition members of the city council rejected this explanation, saying that public transport in Yerevan would become more expensive than in other ex-Soviet and even European cities. The pro-government mayor’s initiative also prompted strong criticism from some prominent public figures.
The uproar forced him to scale back, but not abandon, the transport price hikes. Under an amended bill narrowly approved by the city council, commuters will have to pay 8,800 drams ($22) per month, 23,600 drams per quarter and 88,000 drams per annum for an unlimited number of bus, trolleybus or metro rides. A one-ride ticket will cost around 300 drams. The new tariffs will take effect on September 1.
The two opposition groups represented in the council fiercely resisted the measure, saying that it is unjustified in the absence of a comprehensive plan to improve the city’s public transport network.
“Yerevan’s minority administration has decided to put an additional financial burden on citizens by sharply raising the fares,” said Manuk Sukiasian of the opposition Mayr Hayastan bloc said during a debate.
Over a dozen other May Hayastan councilors holding placards surrounded Sukiasian as he delivered a speech from the council rostrum. They all walked out of the debate hall immediately after his speech.
“I insist that the allegations about appalling price hikes do not correspond to reality,” countered Avinian.
Both Mayr Hayastan and the other opposition group led by former Mayor Hayk Marutian boycotted the ensuing vote in a bid to scuttle the approval of the measure. They would have succeeded had two other councilors representing an obscure party formerly led by a fugitive video blogger also joined the boycott.
Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party and another group allied to it do not have an absolute majority in the Yerevan legislature.