The appearance of any city is a reflection of one or other historical epoch. It's hard to say that during the years of independence Yerevan has become an ordinary drab city and all the changes have been negative. In the last 15-20 years the capital has seen both positive and negative changes in the appearance and infrastructure of the city.
The most difficult time for Yerevan was in the first half of the 1990s. In that period it was necessary to solve transport, road, energy supply and gas supply problems. Not all of these problems have yet been completely resolved. One of the most serious is traffic jams. Every year the number of cars increases rapidly, notwithstanding all the social and economic difficulties.
During the last 6-7 years tunnels have been built into major highways. This has led to public transport working more effectively, as well as private cars. Last year a new underground garage for 500 cars was built in the centre of Yerevan. As a result, the number of traffic jams decreased. The city authorities recently decided to build another big underground garage.
Another serious problem is that of public transport. Concerning the Yerevan subway, the last station was built in 1996. Today the subway has only 10 stations, which is not sufficient for the growing city. The main means of transport are minibus taxis. Five years ago the authorities decided that Yerevan doesn't need trams. Moscow, Warsaw and Minsk need trams, but Yerevan doesn't. They are unprofitable. The trolley buses are very slow. The number of buses is insufficient. Minibus taxis are not safe for passengers. As a result, the capital experiences many car accidents every day.
We hope that serious changes will be implemented in this sphere. They should me aimed at promoting comfort and the diversification of public transport, as these are trademarks of any city.
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK
