Yerevan’s traffic congestion has reached a breaking point, prompting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to declare it a “real crisis” and announce the formation of an emergency task force to address the growing problem.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on October 16, Pashinyan said he personally witnessed the gridlock in downtown Yerevan the previous evening. “Yesterday, around 6:20 p.m., I saw the situation myself. The traffic was so bad that I couldn’t even reach Baghramyan 26 by bicycle,” he said. “I never imagined there would be a time when you couldn’t move through Yerevan even on a bike. Cars keep being brought in, but where are they supposed to go?”
“We have a real problem related to the number of cars,” he emphasized. “If cars keep being brought in, we need to have a clear understanding of where they are supposed to go.”
The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, and Yerevan City Hall to form not just a working group, but a crisis team to systematically address the issue. “I’ve ordered the creation of a special crisis group to analyze the situation and find solutions,” he noted, stressing that the congestion has grown beyond normal levels.
Pashinyan described the downtown traffic jams as “horrendous” and said the situation has both social and psychological consequences. “These traffic jams affect people’s nerves. They go home irritated, go online, and that negative energy spreads further. This is a real crisis — not just congestion, but chaos,” he said. “We cannot allow such a situation to continue — this is no longer just congestion; it’s turning into chaos.”
He also drew attention to the environmental impact, pointing out that while electric vehicles are more eco-friendly, the overall number of cars remains unsustainable. “Even in a jam, it’s better if the car is electric, since it doesn’t emit gases while idling. But we must understand what we’re doing,” he said.
Addressing potential solutions, Pashinyan advocated for alternative modes of transportation, including cycling and electric bicycles. “There are e-bikes now that make it easy to ride uphill, even to Nor Nork. And even if it takes some effort — forgive me — it’s better to sweat a little than to get extremely nervous sitting in traffic,” he remarked. “There are electric bikes now that let you ride uphill without much effort.”
The Prime Minister admitted, however, that the government’s previous initiative encouraging students to commute by bicycle has not been effective. “It’s not visible that students have started biking to class,” he said.
Pashinyan further noted that the government has already allocated funds to Yerevan Municipality to purchase new trolleybuses as part of efforts to improve public transportation. “I understand it’s not like this every hour of the day, but this is still a major problem. We must admit that the direction we’re heading in is wrong,” he concluded.
“The situation I saw yesterday was simply terrible,” Pashinyan said. “Traffic jams exist in every country, but what we have here is not just a jam — it’s chaos. It’s as if the streets are flooded with some kind of thick substance.”
Photo: Gevorg Perkuperkyan/Armenpress
