Wilshire/Vermont station

Wilshire/Vermont
288px 288px Top: View of upper floor platform bound for Union Station Bottom: View of lower floor platform bound for North Hollywood Station (Red Line) or Wilshire/Western Station (Purple Line)
Location	3191 Wilshire Boulevard
Coordinates
Owned by	Metro
Line(s)	Red Line   Purple Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	"Kiss & Ride" passenger drop-off area
Construction
Parking	none
Bicycle facilities	14 bike rack spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	in service
History
Opened	July 13, 1996
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station Vermont/Beverly toward North Hollywood Red Line Westlake/MacArthur Park toward Union Station Wilshire/Normandie toward Wilshire/Western Purple Line

File:HSY- Los Angeles Metro, Wilshire-Vermont, Entrance.jpg

The main entrance of the 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 Red Line and the Purple Line.

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 east of the intersection, allowing diverging Red 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.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
B1	Eastbound	→  Red Line  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) → →  Purple Line  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) →
	Split platform, doors will open on the right
	Mezzanine	faregates, ticket machines
B2	Westbound	←  Red Line  toward North Hollywood (Vermont/Beverly) ←  Purple Line  toward Wilshire/Western (Wilshire/Normandie)
	Split platform, doors will open on the left

File:HSY- Los Angeles Metro, Wilshire-Vermont, Escalator.jpg

Wilshire/Vermont Station is known to have the longest escalator in the United States west of the Mississippi River.

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

220px

The upper platform's pillar art.

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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 red 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; these escalators stretch from the ground level to the lower platform of the Wilshire/Vermont station.

Bus connections

• Metro Local: 18, 20, 51, 52, 201, 204, 352
• Metro Rapid: 720, 754
• Foothill Transit: 481
• LADOT DASH: Wilshire Center / Koreatown

Popular culture

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.

External links

• Station connections overview