Three people have been arrested for verbally and physically assaulting a bus driver. The incident followed an order from Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan requiring bus drivers to ensure passengers pay fares, with threats of salary deductions if they do not carry out the orders.
The incident took place on 8 April in the early afternoon on a public bus and was reported only on Monday, after Avinyan’s characterised it as not just an attack on an individual, but ‘on the city, on the entire system’.
Although police excluded information about the reasons for the conflict, Avinyan hinted that it was an issue regarding payment of the transport fares.
According to Armenian police, two young men ‘began arguing with each other’ on board, after which the driver intervened and warned them. Then, one of them ‘approached the driver and used offensive language’ before he was forced off the bus.
Later the same day, three men arrived in a car, blocked the bus, and started arguing with the driver and injuring the driver by throwing the bus key at him. Following this, they ‘called the driver out of the bus, insulted him, and struck him with their hands and feet’.
Police also released surveillance footage showing passengers attempting to intervene and stop the fight.
The situation in the Yerevan public transport has been strained in recent weeks after Avinyan criticised the ‘complete absence’ of public transport drivers from the fare collection process, which he called ‘unacceptable’. He also warned the government would reduce the overtime payments, noting that that sum ‘also depends on fare collection’.
Starting in January 2025, Yerevan’s public transport system has shifted to cashless payments, but technical issues and dissatisfaction with payment apps have contributed to continued fare evasion.
Public frustration has also been driven by a fare increase as part of major public transport reforms from ֏100 ($0.25) to ֏150 ($0.38) in 2025, after a planned rise to ֏280 ($0.70–$0.74) was rolled back due to public pressure. Many have also complained of overcrowding in buses, long wait times, and heavy traffic congestion during peak hours.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Tensions have escalated as bus drivers, following Avinyan’s order, have increasingly refused to move overcrowded buses without receiving payment from riders, as well as often limiting boarding to the front door so they can personally monitor fares, leading to disputes between passengers or the drivers.
Even as signs of passenger dissatisfaction increased, on Monday Avinyan praised the outcome of the measures taken, stating that since their introduction, the share of validated ticket payments in Yerevan’s public transport had increased from 15% to 30%.
He also praised the bus drivers for remaining calm despite ‘provocations’, and insisted that drivers stop the bus if passengers do not pay and demand that they ‘either pay or get off the bus’.
‘And I urge the other passengers to support the driver in this matter, because enough is enough’, Avinyan said.
Avinyan claimed that the city loses enough money each week to buy two new buses, which amounts to ‘֏70–80 million ($177,000–$208,000) of unpaid fares per week’ and called dodgers a ‘burden on our shoulders’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Following Avinyan’s 6 April order, the Yerevan Municipality announced job openings for public transport controllers, and also later published a video showing controllers carrying out inspections in buses.
In response to an inquiry by RFE/RL about why drivers were being tasked with fare collection despite the increased number of controllers, the municipality stated that the service does not carry out fare collection, but instead holds individuals who commit violations administratively accountable.
