One thing that impressed me during my three days in Zurich was I saw no cyclists crash while navigating the surface rails for the 15 tram lines that run all over the city. I was told by some there are certainly problems, and crashes happen, but I saw some real pro rail-riding behavior.
One of my Zurich interview subjects, Nelson Carrasco, says the city is experimenting with rail treatments that will make bicycling on streets with rails much safer. Essentially, it seems they will be testing a material that is strong enough to support a bicycle but will yield to the weight when a tram runs over it.
