FROM MINIVANS TO LIGHT BUSES: PRIVATE BUSINESSES TURN EYES TO CITY BUS ROUTES
- As Yerevan authorities are planning a drastic reduction of the share of lucrative “marshrutka” businesses in the city, private entrepreneurs appear to be seriously considering opportunities of urban public transportation operating larger buses so far seen as less profitable than popular Raf and Gazel minivans. Gasmen Ltd. became the first private company to have purchased and brought to Armenia 20 new Bogdan light buses to be operated in two urban bus routes. The company’s officials say they consider bringing 25 more buses to the city by the end of the year to be used in another two city bus routes.
The [yellow] buses of Ukrainian make imported by this private company are an addition to the 231 buses and 18 trolleybuses imported to Yerevan by the capital’s municipality over the past few years. These buses and trolleybuses purchased on state funds and subsidized from the budget have served 22 routes across the capital. Meanwhile, city officials say a dozen bus routes they have foreseen for Yerevan still remain vacant due to the shortage of buses.
The measures are part of the municipality’s plan to achieve a major reduction of the share of minivans popular among residents in Yerevan. City officials say the process of replacing minivans with larger buses will have a positive effect on the traffic situation in the capital, which has been made extremely complicated due to the increased number of vehicles and ongoing construction and infrastructure redevelopment projects on several major roads and thoroughfares.
Head of the Transport Department at Yerevan’s municipality Ashot Sahakyan welcomes the private investments and contribution of private companies in the sphere.
“This is going to be a continual process that will be in the center of the mayor’s attention,” he emphasized. “I can assure you that steps will be made for these buses to be operated in the most efficient way.”
According to Sahakyan, the mayor’s office now has also several proposals from other private companies considering importing buses to Armenia. “A timetable will be drafted on that basis until 2009,” he added.
To ensure that private businesses are attracted to the process, Mayor Yervand Zakharyan has given solid guarantees to private transporters that the buses they import will be made the best use of.
By 2009, Yerevan’s municipality expects to nearly halve the current number of minibuses – from some 3,100 to 1,500. Additionally, some 20 trolleybuses are planned to be imported and put into operation every year.
Sahakyan says a new route network will be developed and applied next year so that the routes of buses and minibuses are not matched or repeated.
“Yerevan Trans” CJSC Director Karen Yedigaryan agrees that the measures are vital in improving public transportation and alleviate the general traffic situation in the city. He thinks Ukrainian Bogdans are a good replacement for the currently operated old buses and minibuses: “The practice of operating Bogdans on state-run routes shows that these buses are competitive, and our private companies have already made sure of that.”
Bogdans, produced in Ukraine, can seat nearly three times as many passengers as Rafs and Gazels do (a maximum of 43 passengers, including 22 sitting, compared to 17-20 passengers, including standing ones, in marshrutkas). Low steps and the availability of two doors are another advantage that facilitates and accelerates the process of boarding, an essential detail given the customarily crowded bus stops in major Yerevan streets at rush hours.
Owning and operating minibuses, popularly known as marshrutkas, is believed to be a lucrative business. So far, businessmen have preferred investing in the purchase of minivans the operation of which is deemed more cost-effective, given their relatively low price, low operation and maintenance costs, and a relatively high chance of getting a loan from the bank for this type of business.
Meanwhile, there is a growing sense of understanding among ordinary citizens that larger buses are a more convenient means of transportation for them and are also good for the city.
“I mostly rely on the marshrutka to get to the work. There isn’t a normal bus service where I live, but I would certainly use the bus if there is one,” a woman in one of Yerevan’s suburbs says.
Yerevan’s municipality says “normal bus service” will be available as an alternative to minibuses in most areas of the city within the next few years.
In the meantime, the city’s authorities and Gasmen company director Gagik Mkrtchyan pledge that the operation of buses by a private company will not result in the increase of bus fares and that all privileges currently enjoyed by certain social groups in using bus services will be preserved.
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- 1813 The Russian-Persian Treaty is signed at Fort Gyulistan (Artsakh). It ended the war that had started in 1804. According to the agreement, Persia recognizes the provinces of Artsakh, Gyandja, Shaki, Shoragual, Talish, Derbent, Ghoobay, Pambak, Zangezoor, Shirvan, Baku, Loree and Shamshadin as belonging to the Russian Empire.
- 1882 Birth of literary critic Hovhanness Avagyan. He died in 1959.
- 1895 Rebellion breaks out at Zeitoon against Turkish administrative malpractices.
- 1961 The Armenian SSR decides to rename the Kotayk, Abovian and Adini regions to Ani region.
- 1962 Diasporan Armenians begin a new repatriation program to Armenia.
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