WEHOonline published a story Friday about the Metro D Line opening on May 8, a “straight” news story about a subway extension that’s been over a decade in the making. We did not, however, cover the other thing Metro launched that day. Our readers noticed and wondered if it was all a “phallacy.”
The D has definitely arrived. And West Hollywood, as you might have guessed, has thoughts.
The same day Metro Board Chair Fernando Dutra announced the May 8 opening, the transit agency dropped a merchandise line on its online shop. The shirts say, in large white letters on black: “Ride the D.” Metro posted them on social media with the message, “Give the gift of the D before opening day 5.8.2026!” The post got a whopping 400,000 views in roughly 24 hours. Not hard to imagine why.
The shirts – $21 bucks for a unisex heavyweight tee, $20 for a crop top — sold out almost immediately. Metro’s online store briefly returned an error message that read, “Oops! The page you are looking for is not here.” Which, if you think about it, is one way to describe performance anxiety.
When the shirts sold out, Metro posted on X: “We’re sold out and are working to restock the D Line t-shirts asap. Thanks for riding & wearing & wanting to wear!” When stock returned, Metro posted on Instagram: “If you neeeeeeeeD it GO NOW.”
The internet, predictably, delivered. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, a transit agency, not a person, just to be clear’ replied on X: “Congrats on extending your D line. I hope you see lots of Angelenos riding the D for pure enjoyment!” One commenter cut a little deeper: “The problem is that y’all had performance anxiety and still haven’t even gotten it up yet.” A reference to the two-month delay in opening, presumably.
On Reddit, the reactions ranged from “Hahaha, this is hilarious’ absolutely, they knew what they were doing” to “Who at Metro approved this lol” to “Props to the marketing team.” Multiple users on X said the social media manager deserved a raise. “The marketing on this is absofrigginlutely brilliant,” wrote one.
Metro, for its part, played it perfectly straight, which is perhaps the only straight thing about any of this. “Yes, we’ve seen the internet chatter,” the agency said in a statement. “We design for transit riders, but we can appreciate that the internet will always do what the internet does. At the end of the day, it’s about showing some pride in your favorite line. Whether you ride the A, the K, or any letter in between, we’re just happy people are excited about public transit.”
West Hollywood, a City that has never once shied away from riding the D or celebrating big D energy, has, shall we say, a natural affinity for this moment. The Wilshire/La Cienega station opening May 8 sits less than a mile from WeHo’s “southern border.” A future K Line extension would bring a Metro “rail ride” directly into the City. The D Line is the connection point.
So yes. If all goes to plan, we’ll all be riding the D at some point. And we’ll be covering it, ahem, at length.
The shirts — both the heavyweight tee and the crop top — are back in stock at shop.metro.net. Get them while they’re up.
Related Coverage:
• Metro’s May 8 Opening Sets the Stage for West Hollywood’s Own Subway Fight
• West Hollywood Metro K Line Rally Backs San Vicente-Fairfax Route
• Metro Approved the Biggest Subway in LA History. West Hollywood K Line Still Waiting.
I remember reading it and it made no sense. I just plans … I went to the opening The Great Pyramid moved to LA
I traveled a long way for the D.
I really love the D connector.
It is rare that I am this moved by travel, but I LOVE the D.
🙂
Nice to hear the MTA D line will be extended to three new station stops. Currently, I can ride the B line to Vermont/Santa Monica and then take the 4 line bus into West Hollywood. The new Wilshire/ La Cienaga station will be closer to West Hollywood thank goodness.
I didn’t think much of the T-shirt phrase when it was announced. I must be behind the times as I didn’t look closely. It wasn’t until I read this article that I realized there was a hidden meaning behind the phrase.