Christchurch was built on the trams – and for them to have been gutted out was a travesty. Just imagine Christchurch with a Melbourne style tram system – awesome.

Lightrail to me is too intensive, intrusive, and expensive. There is a place for separated trams stops – but in many instances a simple road marking would suffice. I like the Hong Kong tram system which has a light touch on the city compared to the LRT. And the San Francisco streetcars are brilliant. So cool and retro – it’s as if they never left even as they restore cars from all over. Chch missed a trick there.

As to interactions with bikes – if there are cycleways that are separated from the tramways the only interaction is at interactions when the crossing is at right angles. Perhaps the issue with the tram tracks now is due to cyclists sharing the tramway. This should be avoided.