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Yerevan City Hall is planning to impose “restrictions” on passenger vehicles, alongside the expansion of dedicated public transport lanes, in an effort to address traffic congestion in the Armenian capital.
The traffic problem in Yerevan had reached a point where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared it a crisis in 2025 and urged officials to set up a task force to address it.
Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan briefed lawmakers on the city’s traffic management at a joint committee hearing on the 2025 budget report.
“Regarding Yerevan’s traffic congestion, the Yerevan City Hall has created a specialized institution — the Traffic Management Center — which has been staffed with appropriate professionals,” Avinyan said.
A pilot program is currently analyzing vehicle flows into the city.
“Based on all these calculations, a program of changes will be presented to us this year on what needs to be done,” he said.
Mayor Avinyan said the main cause of traffic congestion in Yerevan is the economic growth recorded in recent years, which has led to a sharp increase in the number of passenger vehicles.
“The first and main reason is economic growth, which has led to a massive increase in the number of passenger cars,” the mayor said.
Even the continued development of public transport is not sufficient to solve the congestion problem on its own, the mayor warned.
“Public transport cannot operate according to its schedule if we do not have restrictions on passenger cars,” Avinyan emphasized.
The mayor said that Yerevan plans to adopt approaches used in European cities.
“Certain restrictions must definitely be introduced for passenger cars, and they must be replaced with dedicated public transport lanes,” he said.
Avinyan added that, based on ongoing studies, locations for parking facilities, traffic management mechanisms, and restrictions on private transport will be determined.
He also noted that preliminary results are expected in September–October 2026, while practical implementation of the program is planned to begin in 2027.