'What's up with the traffic in Toronto?': Tom Cruise asks in recent interview, Chow responds
Ahead of the release of his latest summer blockbuster, Tom Cruise was asked if he would accept what some Toronto residents might consider a truly impossible mission: Can you keep a cool head in the city’s traffic?
ETalk’s Sonia Mangat sat down with the action movie star in Rome before “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” hits theatres next week.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“I say, you sneak in a stunt in Part Two and you come to Toronto. And you take on the traffic in Toronto for two hours. Without road rage,” Mangat challenged Cruise in an exclusive interview.
Not one to refuse a mission, Cruise accepted, and added he has driven in Toronto in the past and shares the frustrations with motorists in the city.
“You know what, I have done that challenge and I have been in that traffic. I’ve made movies in Toronto, I’ve visited Toronto, I have friends in Toronto,” Cruise said with a laugh.
Though it’s been some time since Cruise was last in the city shooting a movie – his 1988 rom-com ‘Cocktail” was largely filmed in Toronto – Toronto’s grid-lock has obviously left a lasting impression.
“What’s up with the traffic in Toronto? Have they figured this out?” Cruise added.
Earlier this year, Toronto made headlines for being among the worst cities in the world for congestion.
In a report published in January, traffic analytics company INRIX said commuters in the city lost an average 118 hours on Greater Toronto Area roads and highways to congestion in 2022.
At peak traffic times that year, the report said, the average speed for drivers in the GTA was a sluggish 20 km/h.
In North America, Toronto was only outdone by Chicago and Boston, where on-peak traffic times saw drivers in those cities lose 155 hours and 134 hours to congestion in 2022, respectively.
- TORONTO TRAFFIC: This database shows when congestion in the city is at its worst
The traffic in Toronto has likely not gotten much better in the months since that report was released.
On May 1, a busy section of Queen Street from Bay Street to Yonge Street, was closed for an expected four-and-a-half years as construction on the Ontario Line gets underway.
Heavy traffic leaves the downtown core in Toronto on Thursday January 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
As well, on Tuesday, the city began construction in the east end on Broadview Avenue where crews are working to replace tracks and resurface roads between Gerrard Street and Danforth Avenue. That project is expected to last five months.
'TRAFFIC IS A PROBLEM': CHOW AGREES WITH CRUISE
In an unrelated news conference Thursday, mayor-elect Olivia Chow responded to Cruise’s comments.
“Well, you know what Tom Cruise says is always right, right?” she joked.
Chow seemed to agree with the movie star and said improved transit could help clear the congestion and pointed to the city’s lack of reliable service as part of the issue.
“Traffic is a problem. [Cruise’s comment] echoes the report we saw from the Board of Trade yesterday to say that our public transit system could be so much better if it was more reliable,” Chow said.
That report showed that Toronto had the least reliable transit service in 2022 compared to other municipalities in the region. Of the transit options in the GTA, Toronto had the lowest score for reliability with only 58 per cent of trips being on time.
Chow added that better coordination on city construction projects would also go a long way in freeing up laneways and advocated for the increased use of alternative modes of transportation like walking and cycling.
You can catch more of Mangat’s interviews with Cruise and the rest of the cast of "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" as Etalk counts down to the film’s release on July 12th, weeknights at 7 p.m. ET on CTV
With files from Abby O'Brien
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979415.1722030986!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious but rainy opening ceremony on the Seine River
Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River.
BREAKING Celine Dion stages comeback with performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.