Advancing Sustainable Urban Transport in Yerevan

At the final workshop held on 12 May 2022 in Yerevan City, CDIA recommended strategic and practical steps to implement a new bus network and an integrated public transport system in Armenia’s capital. Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan led the government participation.

The workshop culminated CDIA’s 15 month-long advisory and capacity building assistance, undertaken in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). During such time, its technical experts and municipal staff worked together on key operational, institutional and infrastructure improvements to enhance the quality and reliability of Yerevan’s public transport.

“This exercise and the overall support has been very helpful to improve public transport in Yerevan and implement a new integrated transport network,” said Paolo Spantigati, ADB Country Director for Armenia.

“It is very rare to have the Mayor engaged so much in the discussion, and this really testifies to his commitment to improve public services in Yerevan,” added Maria Pia Ancora, ADB Senior Urban Development Specialist.

Public transport is widely used in Yerevan City. However, increased private car usage and underinvestment in public transport have deteriorated the city’s infrastructure. Transport emission is also a major cause of air pollution in the city.

The government has taken steps to improve their transport system, including the planning of a new bus network and the purchase of energy-efficient CNG 12-meter buses.

Complementing these efforts, CDIA team provided inputs to the design of the planned bus network, by providing guidance on optimizing the strategic network for metro, trolleybus and core bus routes. They also gave training workshops and developed technical notes on bus depot, bus numbering and passenger information to further improve bus operation.

In terms of infrastructure, CDIA provided capacity building support and produced technical notes and preliminary designs for bus lanes, interchanges and bus stops along a pilot corridor. They also offered guidance on intermodal connectivity; traffic management; and integrated ticketing and fare system. They further identified activities to upgrade air quality monitoring in the city.

The team also assisted in transport policy formulation and other capacity building initiatives. As an example, CDIA prepared the Yerevan Transport Strategy, along with parking management sub-strategy. They likewise recommended to establish a Transport Authority that will ensure efficiency across the system; revise several national laws; develop electric vehicle capability; and develop skills toward efficient financial management, and operation and maintenance.

“In this project, we tried to cover all issues, in some areas, we provided more in-depth technical support, while in others, still a work in progress,” explained Fabienne Perucca, CDIA Urban Development Specialist. “Everything is documented in the technical notes, project reports, draft strategies and workshop recordings. Therefore, the best practices, design standards and advices are available whenever needed.”

At the final workshop, Yerevan and ADB officials agreed to bring the dialogue forward for potential support in implementing some of the measures.

CDIA’s assistance in Yerevan was borne out of a learning exchange city authorities had with counterparts in Tbilisi, Georgia in January 2020. They not only exchanged on the transport challenges and solutions in the two cities but also observed CDIA’s transport advisory work in Tbilisi. It sparked interest to do the same in Yerevan.

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