Wilshire / Vermont (Los Angeles Metro station)

Wilshire/Vermont
     
Los Angeles Metro rapid transit station

A North Hollywood-bound train departs Wilshire/Vermont.
Location
City Los Angeles
Neighborhood Koreatown, Wilshire Center
Address 3191 Wilshire Boulevard
Metro Rail / BRT Services
Metro Rail  Red Line 
 Purple Line 
Station Design
Eastbound Level
HRT, underground
1 side platform
1 track
Westbound Level
HRT, underground
1 side platform
1 track
Entrance(s) NE of Wilshire/Vermont NE corner
N of Wilshire/Shatto NW corner
Fare Gates yes
Accessible
Parking none
Bicycle Facilities 14 bike rack spaces
Other "Kiss & Ride" passenger drop-off area
Miscellaneous
Owned by Metro (LACMTA)
Status in service
Date Opened July 13, 1996
Connecting Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Red Line
Purple Line

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.[1]

Contents

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.[2][3]

Station layout

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.

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

Bus connections

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.

References

  1. ^ "Purple Line station information". http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/purple_line.htm. 
  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.

External links