Yerevan - Post Report Question and Answers
Are local buses, trams, trains or taxis safe and affordable?
Affordable, yes. I never took a bus. I used the metro train once and it seemed fine but doesn't go many places. The taxis are cheap but most have the seatbelts cut out to make room for more passengers. And the driving is generally lawless in my opinion. You're better off paying a private driver a little bit more than you would a taxi and having a seatbelt. - Jan 2022
Buses are off limits and also are crowded and unsanitary. Taxis are plentiful and lots of people use them because they are cheap. No seat belts. I was in an accident in a taxi that did not have seat belts, and got hurt. Never took one again. - Aug 2021
The taxis are plentiful and super cheap using either Yandex or GG. There are buses and local marshrutki, but no one uses those, particularly during COVID times - they are germ factories on wheels. - May 2021
The train system is very affordable at 25 cents (100 AMD) per trip. Taxis are about 2 USD per trip or less to most places in the city but I found few had seat belts and sometimes drivers would try to overcharge me, especially if they didn't use a meter. A phone app called GG taxi is what I now use whenever I have to rely on a taxi, since the app meters the fare.
There are other local transport options such as mashrutkas (hell no, even if the embassy did allow us to use these), local buses, and electric powered street cars, but I have had no reason to use any of these. You can easily walk most places in Yerevan - Mar 2017
Taxis are very affordable and are used often. They are not safe by U.S. standards - many do not have seat belts, the drivers smoke, and drivers in Yerevan in general are bad. Having said that - living here one needs to adjust to the rules of the game here (When in Rome...), and many people, including locals prefer to take taxis than to drive. Especially women. Buses and mini buses are also abundant - although some foreigners use them, they are less pleasant. Often overcrowded and rickety. Because taxis are so affordable, that is the better option. There is a metro system here as well - I've yet to explore it. - Oct 2014
The train takes forever to get to Tbilisi, and that's the only place it goes. Buses, marshrutkas, and taxis are plentiful, but you're putting your life in the driver's hands every time you board one. The bst bet is to drive yourself around. Local driving here is quite precarious. - Sep 2011
Safe and quite affordable. We use taxis all the time. - Oct 2009
I know of no one who has taken a train. City buses are iffy in terms of schedule reliability and safety. Taxis are also hit or miss; there are a couple of good firms that drive modern vehicles with seat belts and air conditioning, but these western vehicle staples are by no means the norm. Taxis generally charge US$1 to show up and wait for you to get in and then charge a fee of about US$1 per mile. - Jul 2008
There are buses and taxis everywhere but they are mostly old rickety things. Sure, they are very affordable but are they safe? They haven't discovered seatbelts in Armenia yet. There are a couple of taxi companies in Yerevan that have English-speaking dispatchers. All things considered, you could easily live here without a car. - Jan 2008
