In anticipation of the release of his upcoming film, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Tom Cruise was asked if he was up for a challenging mission in Toronto: dealing with the city’s notorious traffic congestion.
During an exclusive interview with ETalk’s Sonia Mangat in Rome, Cruise accepted the challenge posed by Mangat to navigate Toronto traffic for two hours without succumbing to road rage. Cruise revealed that he has driven in Toronto before, having filmed movies and visited the city in the past, and acknowledged the frustrations faced by motorists.
Curious about the state of Toronto’s traffic, Cruise quipped, “What’s up with the traffic in Toronto? Have they figured this out?”
Toronto has made headlines as one of the worst cities in the world for traffic congestion. In a report published earlier this year, INRIX, a traffic analytics company, revealed that Toronto commuters lost an average of 118 hours to congestion on Greater Toronto Area roads in 2022. During peak traffic times, drivers in the GTA experienced an average speed of a sluggish 20 km/h. In North America, only Chicago and Boston surpassed Toronto in terms of hours lost to congestion.
Recent construction projects, such as the closure of a section of Queen Street for Ontario Line construction and ongoing work on Broadview Avenue, have likely contributed to the ongoing traffic challenges in Toronto.
Mayor-elect Olivia Chow, in an unrelated news conference, responded to Cruise’s remarks, jokingly acknowledging that “what Tom Cruise says is always right.” Chow agreed with the movie star’s assessment and emphasized that improved transit options could help alleviate congestion. She highlighted the lack of reliable public transit service as a contributing factor to the traffic problem. A recent report indicated that Toronto had the least reliable transit service compared to other municipalities in the region, with only 58% of trips being on time.
Chow also advocated for better coordination of construction projects in the city to free up roadways and encouraged the use of alternative modes of transportation, such as walking and cycling, to alleviate traffic congestion.