Zen in the Art of Travel Behavior:
Using Visual Ethnography to Understand the Transit Experience

The station entrance faces away from the street, which creates a large, concealed space that seems difficult for law enforcement to patrol. Vagrancy and loitering are common at this particular station. The building in the photograph has ground floor retail and has been fully renovated during the station's existence, but the owners have done little to connect to the station entrance area (note the burglar bars over the doors and windows). Overall, the entrance feels uncomfortable, and most people walk through quickly. Some of my coworkers will walk two extra blocks to the next closest station because they believe it is safer, especially at night.

This is the view from the stairs leading from the mezzanine to the platform. The majority of passengers will board the Red Line to North Hollywood, while a small number will wait for the Purple Line to Wilshire/Western. In some cities, there are markings along the edge of the platform showing where the doors will be when the train arrives so that passengers can line up by the door locations in advance. Without these, passengers tend to spread out across the entire platform, as shown here.

These screens show system announcements and train arrival times. However, the displayed times are not real-time predictions; they only show a pre-programmed timetable. This is virtually useless when trains are not running on schedule.

With both the Red and Purple Lines arriving on the same platform, passengers have to pay attention to the small destination sign on the side of the train to ensure they are boarding the correct line. Operators routinely make announcements on board the trains at Wilshire/Vermont Station (the final station where transfers can between the two lines can be made) to remind passengers to be sure they're on the correct train.

This was taken as passengers were entering and exiting at the 7th St/Metro Center transfer station.

There is virtually no spray paint graffiti to be found anywhere on the rail system. Perhaps this is because law enforcement is on the lookout for this type of vandalism, or maintenance workers are quick to remove it. Scrath graffiti, on the other hand, is prevalent. It is more permanent, and is visible on most surfaces on board the trains. Unlike spray paint graffiti, which requires a spray paint can, virtually any sharp objects can be used, including ones that are small, easily concealed, and inconspicuous.

Almost every hard plastic or metal surface on the train has scratch graffiti.

There are no electronic signs on board the train to announce the next station, and audio announcements are often drowned out by rail noise. This means passengers must rely on station signage visible through the train windows for wayfinding. This is not always easy, since MTA washes the train windows infrequently.

Many of the ads on board the trains promote use of the Metro system. Some advertise destinations accessible by transit, such as the Central Library or LA Live. Others advertise the future rail extension projects currently under study. This one advertises connecting limited-stop bus service that is available at many of the system's rail stations.

MTA installed turnstiles in all of the subway stations last year. However, they are all in open "free spin" mode, and will allow all passengers to pass through regardless of whether they have paid the fare. This is partly because MTA assumed the transition from paper tickets to TAP cards (electronic fare cards) would be complete by the time the turnstiles were installed, and accordingly ordered turnstiles that accept only TAP cards. However, there are several outside agencies whose paper tickets are valid on Metro Rail, and they have been reluctant to pay to adopt TAP technology. As such, the turnstiles have been left unlocked so that riders still using paper tickets are able to access the system. This arrangement will likely continue indefinitely, meaning that the turnstiles will probably not be as effective at reducing fare evasion as MTA had hoped.

Despite this portion of the subway being renamed the "Purple Line" in 2006, all of the station signage is still in red. This can be confusing for new riders.