diff --git a/src/ol/geom/linestring.js b/src/ol/geom/linestring.js
index 822af57277..1705954163 100644
--- a/src/ol/geom/linestring.js
+++ b/src/ol/geom/linestring.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ ol.geom.LineString = function(coordinates, opt_shared) {
   this.vertices = vertices;
 
   /**
-   * @type {string}
+   * @type {number}
    * @private
    */
   this.sharedId_ = vertices.add(coordinates);
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ ol.geom.LineString.prototype.getType = function() {
 
 /**
  * Get the identifier used to mark this line in the shared vertices structure.
- * @return {string} The identifier.
+ * @return {number} The identifier.
  */
 ol.geom.LineString.prototype.getSharedId = function() {
   return this.sharedId_;
diff --git a/src/ol/geom/point.js b/src/ol/geom/point.js
index 621a6e4f13..f593db0cb7 100644
--- a/src/ol/geom/point.js
+++ b/src/ol/geom/point.js
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ ol.geom.Point = function(coordinates, opt_shared) {
   this.vertices = vertices;
 
   /**
-   * @type {string}
+   * @type {number}
    * @private
    */
   this.sharedId_ = vertices.add([coordinates]);
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ ol.geom.Point.prototype.getType = function() {
 
 /**
  * Get the identifier used to mark this point in the shared vertices structure.
- * @return {string} The identifier.
+ * @return {number} The identifier.
  */
 ol.geom.Point.prototype.getSharedId = function() {
   return this.sharedId_;
diff --git a/src/ol/geom/sharedvertices.js b/src/ol/geom/sharedvertices.js
index 39ff922027..3941b8f0e7 100644
--- a/src/ol/geom/sharedvertices.js
+++ b/src/ol/geom/sharedvertices.js
@@ -20,19 +20,25 @@ ol.geom.SharedVerticesOptions;
  * @param {ol.geom.SharedVerticesOptions=} opt_options Shared vertices options.
  */
 ol.geom.SharedVertices = function(opt_options) {
-  var options = goog.isDef(opt_options) ? opt_options : {};
-
-  /**
-   * @type {number}
-   * @private
-   */
-  this.counter_ = 0;
+  var options = opt_options ? opt_options : {};
 
   /**
    * @type {Array.<number>}
    */
   this.coordinates = [];
 
+  /**
+   * @type {Array.<number>}
+   * @private
+   */
+  this.starts_ = [];
+
+  /**
+   * @type {Array.<number>}
+   * @private
+   */
+  this.counts_ = [];
+
   /**
    * Number of dimensions per vertex.  Default is 2.
    * @type {number}
@@ -49,25 +55,13 @@ ol.geom.SharedVertices = function(opt_options) {
   goog.asserts.assert(goog.isNull(this.offset_) ||
       this.offset_.length === this.dimension_);
 
-  /**
-   * @type {Object}
-   * @private
-   */
-  this.lookup_ = {};
-
-  /**
-   * @type {Array.<string>}
-   * @private
-   */
-  this.ids_ = [];
-
 };
 
 
 /**
  * Adds a vertex array to the shared coordinate array.
  * @param {ol.geom.VertexArray} vertices Array of vertices.
- * @return {string} Index used to reference the added vertex array.
+ * @return {number} Index used to reference the added vertex array.
  */
 ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.add = function(vertices) {
   var start = this.coordinates.length;
@@ -87,28 +81,23 @@ ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.add = function(vertices) {
       }
     }
   }
-  var id = this.getId_();
-  var idIndex = this.ids_.push(id) - 1;
-  this.lookup_[id] = {
-    idIndex: idIndex,
-    start: start,
-    count: count
-  };
-  return id;
+  var length = this.starts_.push(start);
+  this.counts_.push(count);
+  return length - 1;
 };
 
 
 /**
- * @param {string} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
+ * @param {number} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
  * @param {number} index The vertex index.
  * @param {number} dim The coordinate dimension.
  * @return {number} The coordinate value.
  */
 ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.get = function(id, index, dim) {
+  goog.asserts.assert(id < this.starts_.length);
   goog.asserts.assert(dim <= this.dimension_);
-  goog.asserts.assert(this.lookup_.hasOwnProperty(id));
-  goog.asserts.assert(index < this.lookup_[id].count);
-  var start = this.lookup_[id].start;
+  goog.asserts.assert(index < this.counts_[id]);
+  var start = this.starts_[id];
   var value = this.coordinates[start + (index * this.dimension_) + dim];
   if (this.offset_) {
     value += this.offset_[dim];
@@ -118,22 +107,23 @@ ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.get = function(id, index, dim) {
 
 
 /**
- * @param {string} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
+ * @param {number} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
  * @return {number} The number of vertices in the referenced array.
  */
 ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getCount = function(id) {
-  goog.asserts.assert(this.lookup_.hasOwnProperty(id));
-  return this.lookup_[id].count;
+  goog.asserts.assert(id < this.counts_.length);
+  return this.counts_[id];
 };
 
 
 /**
- * Gets an identifier that is unique for this instance.
- * @return {string} Identifier.
- * @private
+ * Get the array of counts.  The index returned by the add method can be used
+ * to look up the number of vertices.
+ *
+ * @return {Array.<number>} The counts array.
  */
-ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getId_ = function() {
-  return String(++this.counter_);
+ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getCounts = function() {
+  return this.counts_;
 };
 
 
@@ -154,42 +144,20 @@ ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getOffset = function() {
 
 
 /**
- * @param {string} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
+ * @param {number} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
  * @return {number} The start index in the shared vertices array.
  */
 ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getStart = function(id) {
-  goog.asserts.assert(this.lookup_.hasOwnProperty(id));
-  return this.lookup_[id].start;
+  goog.asserts.assert(id < this.starts_.length);
+  return this.starts_[id];
 };
 
 
 /**
- * @param {number} id The vertex array identifier (returned by add).
- * @return {ol.geom.VertexArray} The removed vertex array.
+ * Get the array of start indexes.
+ * @return {Array.<number>} The starts array.
  */
-ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.remove = function(id) {
-  goog.asserts.assert(this.lookup_.hasOwnProperty(id));
-  var info = this.lookup_[id];
-  var dimension = this.dimension_;
-  var length = info.count * dimension;
-  var removed = this.coordinates.splice(info.start, length);
-  var offset = this.offset_;
-  var array = new Array(info.count);
-  var vertex;
-  for (var i = 0; i < info.count; ++i) {
-    vertex = new Array(dimension);
-    for (var j = 0; j < dimension; ++j) {
-      vertex[j] = removed[(i * dimension) + j] + (offset ? offset[j] : 0);
-    }
-    array[i] = vertex;
-  }
-  delete this.lookup_[id];
-  this.ids_.splice(info.idIndex, 1);
-  var afterInfo;
-  for (var k = info.idIndex, kk = this.ids_.length; k < kk; ++k) {
-    afterInfo = this.lookup_[this.ids_[k]];
-    afterInfo.idIndex -= 1;
-    afterInfo.start -= length;
-  }
-  return array;
+ol.geom.SharedVertices.prototype.getStarts = function() {
+  return this.starts_;
 };
+
diff --git a/test/spec/ol/filter/geometryfilter.test.js b/test/spec/ol/filter/geometryfilter.test.js
index b9c41ef7ae..dc7bb6dc03 100644
--- a/test/spec/ol/filter/geometryfilter.test.js
+++ b/test/spec/ol/filter/geometryfilter.test.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ describe('ol.filter.Geometry', function() {
 
     it('works for multi-linestring', function() {
       var filter = new ol.filter.Geometry(
-            ol.filter.GeometryType.MULTILINESTRING);
+          ol.filter.GeometryType.MULTILINESTRING);
       expect(filter.getType()).toBe(ol.filter.GeometryType.MULTILINESTRING);
     });
 
diff --git a/test/spec/ol/geom/sharedvertices.test.js b/test/spec/ol/geom/sharedvertices.test.js
index c007c39205..06b15bfea5 100644
--- a/test/spec/ol/geom/sharedvertices.test.js
+++ b/test/spec/ol/geom/sharedvertices.test.js
@@ -43,8 +43,24 @@ describe('ol.geom.SharedVertices', function() {
     it('returns an identifier for coordinate access', function() {
       var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
       var id = vertices.add([[1, 2], [3, 4]]);
-      expect(typeof id).toBe('string');
+      expect(typeof id).toBe('number');
     });
+
+    it('returns the index of the added vertices', function() {
+      var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
+
+      var first = vertices.add([[1, 2]]);
+      var second = vertices.add([[3, 4], [5, 6]]);
+      var third = vertices.add([[7, 8], [9, 10], [11, 12]]);
+
+      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual(
+          [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]);
+
+      expect(first).toBe(0);
+      expect(second).toBe(1);
+      expect(third).toBe(2);
+    });
+
   });
 
   describe('#get()', function() {
@@ -98,6 +114,17 @@ describe('ol.geom.SharedVertices', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('#getCounts()', function() {
+    it('returns the counts array', function() {
+      var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
+      var first = vertices.add([[2, 3], [3, 4], [4, 5]]);
+      var second = vertices.add([[5, 6], [6, 6]]);
+      var third = vertices.add([[7, 8]]);
+
+      expect(vertices.getCounts()).toEqual([3, 2, 1]);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('#getDimension()', function() {
     it('returns 2 by default', function() {
       var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
@@ -123,57 +150,43 @@ describe('ol.geom.SharedVertices', function() {
   });
 
   describe('#getStart()', function() {
-    it('returns the start of the identified vertex array', function() {
+    it('returns the start index of an identified vertex array', function() {
       var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
-      var first = vertices.add([[1, 2]]);
-      var second = vertices.add([[3, 4], [5, 6]]);
-      var third = vertices.add([[7, 8], [9, 10], [11, 12]]);
+      var first = vertices.add([[2, 3], [4, 5], [6, 7]]);
+      var second = vertices.add([[8, 9], [10, 11]]);
+      var third = vertices.add([[12, 13]]);
 
       expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual(
-          [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]);
+          [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]);
+      //   0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8   9  10  11
+
       expect(vertices.getStart(first)).toBe(0);
-      expect(vertices.getStart(second)).toBe(2);
-      expect(vertices.getStart(third)).toBe(6);
+      expect(vertices.getStart(second)).toBe(6);
+      expect(vertices.getStart(third)).toBe(10);
     });
   });
 
-  describe('#remove()', function() {
-    it('removes a vertex array', function() {
+  describe('#getStarts()', function() {
+    it('returns the counts array', function() {
+      var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
+      var first = vertices.add([[2, 3], [3, 4], [4, 5]]);
+      var second = vertices.add([[5, 6], [6, 6]]);
+      var third = vertices.add([[7, 8]]);
+
+      expect(vertices.getStarts()).toEqual([0, 6, 10]);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('#coordinates', function() {
+    it('is a flat array of all coordinate values', function() {
       var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
       var first = vertices.add([[1, 2], [3, 4]]);
       var second = vertices.add([[5, 6]]);
       var third = vertices.add([[7, 8], [9, 10], [11, 12]]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(second)).toEqual([[5, 6]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(first)).toEqual([[1, 2], [3, 4]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(third)).toEqual([[7, 8], [9, 10], [11, 12]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([]);
+      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual(
+          [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]);
     });
 
-    it('adjusts returned vertices by offset', function() {
-
-      var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices({offset: [10, 20]});
-      var first = vertices.add([[1, 2]]);
-      var second = vertices.add([[3, 4]]);
-      var third = vertices.add([[5, 6]]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(second)).toEqual([[3, 4]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([-9, -18, -5, -14]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(third)).toEqual([[5, 6]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([-9, -18]);
-
-      expect(vertices.remove(first)).toEqual([[1, 2]]);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toEqual([]);
-    });
-
-  });
-
-  describe('#coordinates', function() {
     it('is not reassigned', function() {
       var vertices = new ol.geom.SharedVertices();
       var first = vertices.add([[1, 2], [3, 4]]);
@@ -181,12 +194,6 @@ describe('ol.geom.SharedVertices', function() {
 
       var second = vertices.add([[5, 6]]);
       expect(vertices.coordinates).toBe(coordinates);
-
-      vertices.remove(first);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toBe(coordinates);
-
-      vertices.remove(second);
-      expect(vertices.coordinates).toBe(coordinates);
     });
   });