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.
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Oh for fucks sake. They were really going to protest that bikes would not be let on for one weekend when huge crowds would be coupled with first day bugs.
And here I thought Cascade was the rational bike group in Seattle.
I cannot imagine a less significant victory.
With or without bikes on the trains, it will be worth the $1.75 to wait until Monday and avoid the cluster fuck that will be the free weekend….
Don’t mess with the Cascade.
So…maybe they shouldn’t let on wheelchairs, either, because they take up a lot of space opening weekend @1?
It does seem a little extreme, but there’s been so much done in opposition to cyclists that I can understand being frustrated enough about yet another second-classing attempt (even if reasonable) to make a stink.
I bike commute, and there’s very very little done until recently to make that experience as simple for me as when I drive the same route. The restriping in Seattle on many streets has actually made a difference, though.