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PROBLEM OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN YEREVAN: DRIVERS CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET IF DON'T VIOLATE THE LAW
epress.am
11.12.2011
The plan by now former mayor Karen Karapetyan to relieve downtown
Yerevan from public transportation vehicles is not yielding any
results, asserted several residents of the Armenian capital who spoke
with Epress.am these past couple of days.
Though reforms in the transport sector led to bus stops for intra-city
buses entering Yerevan being moved outside the downtown core and
university start times were pushed back by half an hour (9:30 am
instead of 9 am), there are still traffic jams in the capital's main
streets, and particularly in the morning, while public transportation
continues to operate at overcapacity.
Yerevan City Hall's Information and Public Relations Department
informed Epress.am that according to the figures by the city's
transport division, 243 buses, 1,850 minibuses and 49 trolley buses
operate in the capital on average every day.
That, basically, isn't enough to transport the flow of passengers.
Yerevan residents speaking to Epress.am were dissatisfied with the
overcapacity of the public transportation system.
"Every morning I'm forced to be late to work since the Number 30
minibus is filled to capacity - there isn't even room to stand, even
though they're on schedule. Nevertheless, it's impossible to ride
this minibus in the mornings," Davtashen resident Marina Avetisyan
told Epress.am.
A group of students coming to Yerevan from Argavand were complaining
about both the schedule and the full load. According to them, you
need a lot of patience and strong nerves to get to Yerevan.
"Every day it's the same situation. The vehicles come once every 30
minutes, and let's not talk about overcapacity. Even if we succeed
in getting to the city by standing in the bus, it doesn't matter,
we get to class late," the students said.
Others complained of just about everything.
"Often because I'm late, I find some way of squeezing in, and leaning
on the door, I rush to work - taking into consideration that I might
fall out of the door. The overcapacity of public transportation has
become such a big problem that we've begun not paying attention to the
deplorable state [of the vehicles]. The inconveniences are many: the
draft coming in from the partially closed windows, the broken seats,
the doors that barely close, the unhygienic state," said 57-year-old
Razmik Petrosyan.
It's noteworthy that complaints can be heard not only from passengers
but also from the dispatchers, one of whom, who wished to remain
anonymous, told Epress.am that drivers are few and largely refuse to
do this work.
"It's very difficult today to work as a bus driver, considering several
proposed conditions. A large part of the vehicles are in extremely
poor condition and they are in constant need of repair. And repairs
are done by both the driver and the company servicing the route,
since the drivers often simply aren't able to pay for repairs on their
own. Though it is strictly prohibited to pick up more passengers than
there are seats, nevertheless, drivers break this law and carry more
passengers [than allowed]," said the dispatcher.
According to the dispatcher, on their route, the driver has to pay
the company owner 9,000 drams ($24 USD) per day. If drivers only pick
up as many passengers as there are seats, then they almost certainly
won't be able to pay this fee and on top of that to make a profit.
Very often drivers refuse work because "there's nothing left at
the end of the day". For this reason you can often find the notice
"Looking for drivers to work" posted in minibuses.
From: Baghdasarian
epress.am
11.12.2011
The plan by now former mayor Karen Karapetyan to relieve downtown
Yerevan from public transportation vehicles is not yielding any
results, asserted several residents of the Armenian capital who spoke
with Epress.am these past couple of days.
Though reforms in the transport sector led to bus stops for intra-city
buses entering Yerevan being moved outside the downtown core and
university start times were pushed back by half an hour (9:30 am
instead of 9 am), there are still traffic jams in the capital's main
streets, and particularly in the morning, while public transportation
continues to operate at overcapacity.
Yerevan City Hall's Information and Public Relations Department
informed Epress.am that according to the figures by the city's
transport division, 243 buses, 1,850 minibuses and 49 trolley buses
operate in the capital on average every day.
That, basically, isn't enough to transport the flow of passengers.
Yerevan residents speaking to Epress.am were dissatisfied with the
overcapacity of the public transportation system.
"Every morning I'm forced to be late to work since the Number 30
minibus is filled to capacity - there isn't even room to stand, even
though they're on schedule. Nevertheless, it's impossible to ride
this minibus in the mornings," Davtashen resident Marina Avetisyan
told Epress.am.
A group of students coming to Yerevan from Argavand were complaining
about both the schedule and the full load. According to them, you
need a lot of patience and strong nerves to get to Yerevan.
"Every day it's the same situation. The vehicles come once every 30
minutes, and let's not talk about overcapacity. Even if we succeed
in getting to the city by standing in the bus, it doesn't matter,
we get to class late," the students said.
Others complained of just about everything.
"Often because I'm late, I find some way of squeezing in, and leaning
on the door, I rush to work - taking into consideration that I might
fall out of the door. The overcapacity of public transportation has
become such a big problem that we've begun not paying attention to the
deplorable state [of the vehicles]. The inconveniences are many: the
draft coming in from the partially closed windows, the broken seats,
the doors that barely close, the unhygienic state," said 57-year-old
Razmik Petrosyan.
It's noteworthy that complaints can be heard not only from passengers
but also from the dispatchers, one of whom, who wished to remain
anonymous, told Epress.am that drivers are few and largely refuse to
do this work.
"It's very difficult today to work as a bus driver, considering several
proposed conditions. A large part of the vehicles are in extremely
poor condition and they are in constant need of repair. And repairs
are done by both the driver and the company servicing the route,
since the drivers often simply aren't able to pay for repairs on their
own. Though it is strictly prohibited to pick up more passengers than
there are seats, nevertheless, drivers break this law and carry more
passengers [than allowed]," said the dispatcher.
According to the dispatcher, on their route, the driver has to pay
the company owner 9,000 drams ($24 USD) per day. If drivers only pick
up as many passengers as there are seats, then they almost certainly
won't be able to pay this fee and on top of that to make a profit.
Very often drivers refuse work because "there's nothing left at
the end of the day". For this reason you can often find the notice
"Looking for drivers to work" posted in minibuses.
From: Baghdasarian