A councillor fears fewer people returning to office working will "hit dramatically" on the revenue brought in for Nottingham's tram network.
While a local government expert recently said the reported £50m losses between Nottingham's tram network owners, Tramlink Nottingham (Finco) and Tramlink Nottingham, were of no cause for concern and were actually "punching above weight", the way in which people work looks set to change due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Numerous businesses are planning to keep employees working from home, while other organisations are opting for a hybrid of home and office-based work, including Nottinghamshire County Council.
This means, naturally, there will be fewer passengers using the city's trams.
During the Nottingham City Council's Greater Nottingham Light Rapid Transit Advisory Committee meeting on July 13, county councillor Gordon Wheeler, who represents West Bridgford West, said he was concerned about revenue streams.
He said: "Going back to work how we used to is never going to happen. It will be hybrid working, certainly not five days a week, and that's the way the world is.
"It's going to hit dramatically on revenues. Not just you, but bus companies as well, it just has to. What contingency plans do you have?"
Responding to his concerns Stephanie Moss-Pearce, marketing manager for Tramlink Nottingham, said they were combating this with a new Trust the Tram campaign, as well as new ways of attracting a more diverse market.
She said "There has been lots of negativity surrounding the tram over the last few months. We are safe and you can trust us.
"What we have done as a business is almost put a line through what we did before and started again in terms of priorities for the business.
"A lot of business will either not be returning to work full time, if at all, or some type of hybrid working. So actually is our product offer right?
"There will be a lot of work with season tickets.
There have been some businesses and markets we have not been able to get into. What other markets have we yet to discover? For example the castle partnership, is the tourism market going to boom in the city and can we encourage people to come in? We are looking for different opportunities.
"We are quite hopeful revenue will be on the up going forward. We are trying to be flexible in our approach going forward."
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