Jane Loop

This photo shows a bus exiting from the outer concentric ring of the Jane loop, showing a bus bay for two bus routes.
City of Toronto Archives, Series 648, s0648 fl0032 id0002

The Toronto Transit Commission's Jane loop was an important Toronto streetcar loop, prior to the completion of the Bloor Danforth Subway line. It was the western end of Bloor Streetcar line. The loop was at a boundary between two zones in the TTC's zoned fare system. Half a dozen or so buses and trolleybuses terminated at the loop.

According to popular historian Mike Filey, the Bloor Streetcar line was extended to Jane Street on December 31, 1923.

Design

By the 1960s the facility had two structures. The facility had two concentric loops with a covered crescent shaped structure that protected passengers from the sun and rain as they boarded, unboarded, or waited for their vehicles. The inner loop was reserved exclusively for streetcars, which entered the inner loop in a counter-clockwise direction, so their doors opened onto the inner edge of the crescent shaped structure. Buses and trolleybuses entered the outer loop in a clockwise direction, so their doors opened onto the outer edge of the crescent shaped structure.

Passengers could ask for paper transfers when they boarded the first vehicle on their route, if they planned to transfer to another vehicle in the same zone.

A small structure in the center of the loops housed a ticket agent and coffee shop. The TTC owned and operated a subsidiary, Gray Coach, which ran intercity buses throughout southern Ontario. Tickets for intercity Gray Couch routes could be purchased there.