Wilshire/Vermont station explained

Style:Los Angeles Metro Rail
Wilshire/Vermont
Symbol Location:losangeles
Symbol:B
Symbol2:D
Address:3191 Wilshire Boulevard
Borough:Los Angeles, California
Coordinates:34.0625°N -118.2908°W
Owned:Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Platform:2 split platforms
Tracks:2
Structure:Underground
Parking:Paid parking nearby
Bicycle:Metro Bike Share station[1] and racks
Former:Wilshire/Vermont/Wilshire Center
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:14

Wilshire/Vermont station is an underground rapid transit (known locally as a subway) station on the B Line and D Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station is located near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, after which the station is named, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Koreatown. Unlike the other stations on Wilshire or Vermont which were built directly under the street, this station is offset on a diagonal between the two streets,[2] allowing the lines to diverge without trains on one line having to slow for a tight turn. The station has a unique layout with two side platforms on two levels, necessitated by the flying junction between the lines just west of the station. It is the last station going from Union Station that serves both the B Line and D Line.

Service

Station layout

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.

Wilshire/Vermont station has one of the longest escalators in the world at in length stretching from the ground level to the lower platform. At the time of its construction, it was the longest escalator in the United States west of the Mississippi River.[3] [4]

GStreet LevelEntrance/Exit, faregates, ticket machines
B1Eastbound and toward →
B2Northbound
Westbound
← toward
← toward

Connections

As of spring 2024, the following connections are available:[5]

Station 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. Additional artwork at the station is the creation of Peter Shire.

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.[6] [7] The property is managed by Greystar Real Estate Partners.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Station Map . November 13, 2021 . . 27 January 2015 . en-US . 2 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220102233640/https://bikeshare.metro.net/stations/ . live .
  2. Web site: Wilshire Wilshire/Vermont /Vermont Connections Connections . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225095240/http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/maps/images/red_wilshire_vermont.pdf . February 25, 2012 . November 18, 2021 . Metro.
  3. Web site: April 20, 2020 . Working list – World's longest 'urban' escalators . October 31, 2021 . Panethos . en . October 31, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211031175754/https://panethos.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/working-list-worlds-longest-urban-escalators/ . live .
  4. Web site: Hymon . Steve . Transportation headlines, Monday, August 11 . The Source . . August 11, 2014 . August 11, 2014 . August 12, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140812204943/http://thesource.metro.net/2014/08/11/transportation-headlines-monday-august-11/ . live .
  5. Web site: December 11, 2022 . B & D Line Timetable – Connections section . Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority . 2 . December 14, 2022 . December 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221214204723/https://cdn.beta.metro.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/08202420/802_TT_12-11-22.pdf . live .
  6. http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/1017/people_and_places.html "People and Places: Los Angeles 2007.1016"
  7. 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.