If you visited Armenia back in the early 2000s, you’ll definitely remember what the public transportation looked like:
 

Those nostalgic “Gazelles” with doors that slammed like guillotines, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the right one to pass by, squeezing your eyes to read those cards with the numbers and destinations…
 

And who could forget the ritual of paying the drivers? Sometimes you had to pass coins forward through several rows of strangers.
 

Well, we’ve come a long way since then.
 

The most visible transformation has taken place in Yerevan, where old vans and aging buses have gradually given way to larger vehicles, electronic payments, route tracking, and a unified ticketing system. Similar attempts to modernize regional transportation are also beginning outside the capital.
 

The result? A system that’s becoming easier to understand, even if the transition is still far from complete or perfect.
 

The Marshrutka Era
 

Marshutkas were one of the iconic forms of transportation in post-Soviet Armenia, and many other post-Soviet countries in the region.
 

They filled an important gap. Small vans were cheaper to operate than large buses and could move through narrow or congested streets.
 

Routes reached residential districts, city centers, regional towns, and villages that weren’t always well served by larger municipal systems.
 

However, there was a flip side to these vehicles.
 

Many older marshrutkas had limited seating, little space for luggage, no accessibility features, and poor ventilation. Very, very poor ventilation.
 

Standing passengers were common, even though the vehicles were not designed for them. At peak traffic hours, a Marshutka in Yerevan resembled those Indian trains you see on Youtube these days.
 

Routes could also be difficult to understand unless you already knew the city.
 

Payment was informal. Passengers handed cash to the driver, often while the vehicle was moving. Juggling coins was a skill you had to master.
 

Then there were the “bus stops.” Or lack thereof. You’d see a mass of people on the street, and you’d join them to wait for the Marshutkas. Also, you could get off pretty much anywhere simply by yelling “Stop here” at the driver.
 

Those days are long gone. Nowadays, bus drivers will get fined if they don’t stop at designated locations.
 

Speaking of bus drivers, there was a time when they chain smoked while driving.
 

Guess what would happen if they do that in this day and age? That’s right, fines. And the passengers can actually complain and report them now. What a luxury!
 

By 2017, marshrutkas still carried roughly half of Yerevan’s public transport passengers, with more than 1,200 small vans operating across dozens of routes.
 

The city had already announced plans to replace them with larger buses, but changing such a fragmented network required years of planning and investment.
 

Bigger Buses and a New Route Network


 

Yerevan’s transport reform was designed around more than simply replacing one vehicle with another.
 

An internationally developed route plan proposed a coordinated network combining buses, trolleybuses, and the metro. We’ll get to the trolleybuses and the metro in a separate article.
 

The plan also called for modern vehicles, electronic ticketing, passenger benefits, and the gradual removal of old minibuses.
 

Between 2020 and 2024, Yerevan acquired:
 

• 100 small-capacity GAZelle City vehicles
• 562 mid-sized Zhong Tong buses
• 87 large MAN buses

The city also purchased new trolleybuses, including models that can continue moving for part of their route without remaining permanently connected to overhead wires.
 

The 87 large MAN buses were financed through an EBRD-supported project.
 

They are low-floor, accessible to passengers with disabilities, powered by compressed natural gas, and designed to meet Euro 6 environmental standards.
 

The project estimated that replacing older vehicles could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2,939 tonnes per year.
 

Another 171 buses and 15 trolleybuses were purchased in 2024 to replace remaining older vehicles.
 

As of the municipality’s latest published overview, Yerevan’s network includes 64 bus routes, 11 minibus routes, and five operating trolleybus routes.
 

Old GAZelle marshrutkas, nostalgic as they were, have been discontinued, although newer GAZelle City vehicles still serve routes where smaller buses remain practical.
 

So, the marshrutka hasn’t vanished entirely. It just became a smaller part of a system increasingly dominated by standardized municipal buses.
 

Cards Instead of Coins.
 

For decades, a ride in Yerevan was associated with a 100-dram coin handed directly to the driver.
 

That began changing in late 2024, when bank-card payments became available on buses and minibuses.
 

Yerevan’s unified electronic ticketing system officially began operating on January 1, 2025. It brought buses, minibuses, trolleybuses, and the metro into one payment structure.
 

Much like any legacy system, this change met resistance from the public at first. But it was gradually accepted as the new norm.
 

Passengers can now use several methods, including:
 

• Transport cards
• Bank cards
• A mobile application called TellCell

There were single use paper QR tickets as well, but the municipality later phased them out. They were originally intended for occasional passengers but had become widely used by regular commuters.
 

The basic single-trip fare was set at 150 AMD for 2026, alongside unlimited and longer-term travel packages. Again, this was met with resistance in the early stages.
 

For commuters, the biggest conceptual change is that payment is no longer tied only to entering one specific vehicle.
 

Travel packages, which you can read more on here, make it easier to transfer between buses, trolleybuses, and the metro without treating every step of the journey as an entirely separate system.
 

For repats, this is a familiar model. For many long-time residents, however, it has required a change in habit after decades of paying drivers directly.
 

Easier to Navigate, but Still a Work in Progress
 

The system has also become more visible digitally.
 

Bus and minibus routes can increasingly be followed through mapping platforms like Yandex, allowing passengers to see routes, vehicle movement, and estimated arrival times.
 

This is a major improvement for anyone who doesn’t already know which numbered bus passes a particular street.
 

Yerevan has around 1,200 public transport stops, but only 408 currently have shelters. The city has been adding and renovating stops as the route network develops.
 

The metro remains small, with 10 stations along a 12.1-kilometer line. Work is progressing on plans for a new station in Ajapnyak, although a major expansion will require significant time and investment.
 

Passengers still report familiar problems: long waits on some routes, overcrowding during peak hours, traffic delays, unclear transfer options, and uneven service between central and outer districts.
 

Modern buses can’t solve congestion on their own.
 

Bus lanes, better scheduling, clearer passenger information, route coordination, and reliable enforcement all matter just as much as the vehicles.
 

What About Transportation Outside Yerevan?
 

The capital receives most of the attention, but public transportation is also changing in the regions.
 

The government has been developing unified regional route networks intended to replace fragmented services with coordinated routes and newer vehicles.
 

In 2026, for example, new vehicles were delivered for Ararat Province’s unified transport network, with the remaining fleet and network rollout planned for later in the summer.
 

Yeghvard, Nor Hachn, and Garni also have their own buses. Before the buses, you guessed it, it was a long Marshutka ride.
 

Regional reform is more complicated than urban reform.
 

Villages may have small populations, long distances between communities, and limited passenger demand.
 

A route may be socially necessary without being commercially profitable. Residents often depend on infrequent buses, taxis, private cars, or informal arrangements to reach schools, hospitals, workplaces, and regional centers.
 

The challenge is therefore not simply replacing old marshrutkas.
 

It’s creating services that are frequent enough to be useful and financially sustainable enough to continue operating.
 

By the way, here’s an interesting thing to note when it comes to regional buses: they still accept only coins, even if you get on in Yerevan.
 

The prices range anywhere from 150 to 400 drams and even higher if the distance covered is longer.
 

What the Evolution Means for Repats
 

For someone returning to Armenia after years abroad, public transportation may feel both familiar and completely different.
 

The numbered routes, trolleybus wires, and crowded stops remain part of the city. The need to ask another passenger where to get off hasn’t disappeared either.
 

However, the system is becoming easier to enter without local knowledge.
 

You are less dependent on coins. You can pay electronically. Larger low-floor buses are more accessible. Routes are easier to follow online. Transfers are becoming part of a unified system rather than a collection of unrelated rides.
 

The transition has also created some confusion. Payment rules have changed quickly, fare reforms have attracted public debate, and not every passenger finds the digital options equally convenient.
 

That’s normal for a system moving from informal habits toward more standardized urban transport.
 

If you were in Armenia back in the Marshutka age, you can clearly see the difference. It’s night and day, just with more traffic on the side.
 

Final Thoughts
 

The transformation of Armenia’s public transportation didn’t happen overnight, and it’s still an ongoing process..
 

The old system was flexible and familiar, but it depended heavily on crowded minibuses, direct cash payments, and knowledge passed from one passenger to another.
 

The newer system is moving toward larger buses, coordinated routes, electronic payments, cleaner vehicles, and better digital information.
 

Yerevan has made the fastest progress, while regional communities are beginning their own transition through unified route networks and newer fleets.
 

There’s still plenty to improve, especially when it comes to waiting times, traffic congestion, regional access, shelters, and route reliability.
 

But the direction is clear.
 

Public transportation in Armenia is slowly moving from a system built around marshrutkas and loose change to one built around buses, cards, apps, and a more connected network.
 

The question is: when are YOU hopping on?

By Nareg Abedi Masihi