Yerevan has reached the maximum traffic congestion level of 10 out of 10 for the third consecutive day, as worsening gridlock raises questions about the effectiveness of the municipality’s transport reforms, higher public transportation fares, and the allocation of nearly 500 million AMD ($1.4 million) annually to a traffic management center.
Despite years of promises to improve the capital’s transportation system, newly published data show that severe congestion has become significantly more frequent, leaving residents paying more for public transport while facing increasingly congested roads.
An analysis of Yandex Maps data published by Aram Mkhitaryan, head of Yandex Armenia, reveals a marked deterioration compared with last year.
In October 2025, congestion reached 9 or higher on the 10-point scale on 14 of 23 working days, or 61%. In October 2026, that figure rose to 18 of 22 working days, or 82%.
The share of working days experiencing severe congestion increased by 21 percentage points in just one year.
Mkhitaryan’s data also highlight seasonal patterns. In August 2025, the average daily peak congestion level on working days stood at 7.7, rising to 9.2 by November. Although heavier autumn traffic is a recurring problem, the latest October figures indicate that severe congestion has become more persistent than in the previous year.
The worsening situation comes despite significant changes to Yerevan’s transportation system and substantial financial commitments by the municipality.
On February 1, 2025, city authorities increased the standard single-ride public transportation fare from 100 AMD ($0.28) to 150 AMD ($0.42), a 50% increase. The municipality presented the new fare structure as part of broader transportation reforms, yet the higher cost to passengers has not been accompanied by a measurable reduction in the frequency of severe congestion.
Meanwhile, the municipality has reorganized its traffic management system, establishing a new institution with a planned annual payroll of nearly 500 million AMD ($1.4 million).
On November 18, 2025, the Yerevan Council of Elders approved the creation of the Yerevan Traffic Management Center, which received official registration on January 5, 2026.
The center was allocated 74 staff positions, with a monthly payroll budget of approximately 41.3 million AMD ($115,363), equivalent to 495.5 million AMD ($1.38 million) annually.
Its director, Eduard Ayvazyan, has a monthly salary set at 1.8 million AMD ($5,028), or 21.6 million AMD ($60,335) annually. The deputy director’s monthly salary was set at 1.7 million AMD ($4,749), while ten positions, including those of the director and deputy director, carry monthly salaries exceeding 1 million AMD ($2,793).
The new center is intended to assume responsibilities previously handled in part by the municipal company Yerevantrans, which was slated for liquidation.
During discussions surrounding the restructuring, Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan indicated that the budgetary difference between the new institution and Yerevantrans would amount to approximately 140 million AMD ($391,061). The municipality therefore presented the change as a reorganization of existing responsibilities rather than the creation of an entirely additional layer of expenditure.
The center’s responsibilities include monitoring traffic flows, analyzing the causes of congestion, coordinating public transportation, and introducing digital traffic management technologies.
City officials have also announced plans for smart traffic lights, traffic-counting cameras, centralized data collection, and improved public transportation dispatching.
In September 2026, Grigoryan reported that a unified traffic data collection environment had already been established and that an inventory of the capital’s traffic light infrastructure was nearly complete.
However, the municipality’s own description of the center identifies 2026 primarily as a period for establishing its organizational and technical foundations, assessing existing systems, and developing short- and long-term strategies.
The distinction raises an important question: when will the municipality’s administrative restructuring, financial commitments, and technological initiatives translate into measurable improvements on Yerevan’s roads?
The growing congestion also comes amid an increase in the number of registered vehicles. According to figures compiled by the urban monitoring initiative Yerevan for People, approximately 343,000 vehicles are registered in the capital, nearly 12,000 more than a year earlier.
While rising vehicle numbers contribute to pressure on the road network, they also underscore the need for effective traffic planning, reliable public transportation, and measurable congestion-reduction policies.
The consequences extend beyond inconvenience. Persistent gridlock disrupts commuting, affects public transportation reliability, increases fuel consumption, and places additional pressure on businesses and services that depend on predictable travel times.
Yet the municipality has not demonstrated, through the published congestion figures, that its transportation changes have reduced the frequency of severe traffic congestion.
The Yandex statistics do not establish every cause of worsening traffic, nor do they independently measure the effectiveness of individual reforms. They do, however, expose a growing gap between the municipality’s commitments and the conditions residents experience daily.
The issue is therefore not simply the existence of traffic jams, but the effectiveness of Yerevan’s transportation policies, the allocation of public funds, and the accountability of the officials responsible for delivering improvements.
Residents are now paying higher public transportation fares while municipal resources are committed to a reorganized traffic management system whose congestion-reduction results have yet to become evident.
With severe congestion reaching the maximum level for three consecutive days and the frequency of heavily congested working days rising sharply over the past year, Yerevan’s authorities face a fundamental question: what measurable improvements have their transport reforms and substantial financial commitments actually delivered?
