Wilshire/Vermont station

Wilshire/Vermont is a heavy-rail subway station in the Los Angeles Metro system. It is located at Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, in Los Angeles' Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown District. This station is served by the B Line and the D Line.[1]

Wilshire/Vermont
   

Top: View of upper floor platform bound for Union Station
Bottom: View of lower floor platform bound for North Hollywood Station (B Line) or Wilshire/Western Station (D Line)
Location3191 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Coordinates34.0570°N 118.2763°W / 34.0570; -118.2763
Owned byMetro
Line(s) B Line (Red) 
 D Line (Purple) 
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections"Kiss & Ride" passenger drop-off area
Construction
Parkingnone
Bicycle facilities14 bike rack spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Statusin service
History
OpenedJuly 13, 1996 (July 13, 1996)
Services
Preceding station Metro Rail Following station
Vermont/Beverly
toward North Hollywood
 B Line (Red) Westlake/​MacArthur Park
toward Union Station
Wilshire/Normandie
toward Wilshire/Western
 D Line (Purple)
Location
The main entrance of the station.

This is one of only two stations in the entire system that has underground side platforms, the other being the 7th Street/Metro Center station.

Location

As its name implies, Wilshire/Vermont station is located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The station itself is slightly to the northeast of the intersection, allowing diverging B Line trains to head north underneath Vermont. A number of educational institutions, including Southwestern University and the Robert F Kennedy Community Schools, are located nearby.

Transit-oriented development

Above the station is the Wilshire Vermont Station mixed-use transit village development, a $136-million apartment and retail complex designed by the architecture firm Arquitectonica and developed by Urban Partners and MacFarlane Partners on land owned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The development opened in 2007 and includes apartments, retail, and (as of 2009) an adjacent middle school.[2][3] The property is managed by Greystar Real Estate Partners.

Station layout
G Street Level Exit/Entrance
B1 Southbound/Eastbound →  B Line (Red)  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) →
→  D Line (Purple)  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) →
Split platform, doors will open on the right
Mezzanine faregates, ticket machines
B2 Northbound/Westbound ←  B Line (Red)  toward North Hollywood (Vermont/Beverly)
←  D Line (Purple)  toward Wilshire/Western (Wilshire/Normandie)
Split platform, doors will open on the left
Wilshire/Vermont station is known to have the longest escalator in the United States west of the Mississippi River.[4]

The station is located where the B Line and D Line converge on their way to Downtown Los Angeles. The station is designed with two platform levels: eastbound D and B Line trains (to Union Station) use the upper level, and westbound D (to Wilshire/Western) and Northbound B (to North Hollywood) trains use the lower level.

The upper platform's pillar art.
The lower platform's pillar art.

Artwork

The artwork at the station depicts typographic letters and symbols designed by Bob Zoell. The letters on the pillars of the lower platform spell out "going by-by", what the B line and its patrons do when they zoom in and out of the station. Addition artwork at the station is the creation of Peter Shire. The Wilshire/Vermont station also contains the two longest continuous escalators in the state of California (in fact, west of the Mississippi;[4] these escalators stretch from the ground level to the lower platform of the Wilshire/Vermont station.

Bus connections

In 2009, a sign listing the Wilshire/Vermont station was used in a Geico "It's So Easy A Caveman Could Do It" commercial featuring the song "Let Me Be Myself" by Three Doors Down.

References
  1. "Purple Line station information". Metro.
  2. "People and Places: Los Angeles 2007.1016", Architecture Week, October 16, 2007 (accessed February 23, 2010).
  3. Christopher Hawthorne, " Just keep your distance: The Wilshire Vermont Station is dramatic from far away. A walk in its courtyard exposes its flaws.", Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2007.
  4. Hymon, Steve (August 11, 2014). "Transportation headlines, Monday, August 11". The Source. Metro. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
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