Outraged by plans to exclude bicycles from light rail trains during Sound Transit's opening weekend, the Cascade Bicycle Club has been planning a protest ride along Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, which would have disrupted the movement of the trains, since earlier this year. Each light rail car is designed to hold two bikes; however, Sound Transit anticipates "crush" crowds during opening weekend—and bikes take up a lot of space. However, as Cascade's advocacy director David Hiller notes: "We understand that there are going to be a lot of people, but there [were] no other prohibitions about what you can bring on the trains."

Today, Sound Transit and Cascade both confirmed that they've reached a detente: Sound Transit will let bicyclists bring their wheels on light rail trains, and Cascade, in return, will staff bike parking spots at stations and discourage people from bringing their bikes onto trains unless they have to.

"They realized it was not the best idea to basically allow you to come on with any other object except a bicycle," Hiller says.

Light rail opens at 10 am on Saturday, July 18, with free rides all weekend; more information available on Sound Transit's web site.