All this talk of trenching and elevating... I think at-grade could work very well if done right and be just as good as grade-separating the line. They just need to program all the lights on the route properly and sync them with a GPS tracking system, and minimize the number of stations to 800-1000m spacing.
There's youtube videos of buses and trams in Europe that very rarely get a red light. The traffic lights change to green just before the vehicle reaches them. If there's room on the streets and all lrvs and intersection lights are properly controlled centrally then the system could work just as well as a subway.
The only big disadvantage would be the possibility of car accidents blocking trains, but a big plow on front of the LRVs would take care of that issue