You've gotten a lot of good advice here, however, I don't think anyone's mentioned Bike Co-ops. If you have one nearby, it sounds like that would be an ideal spot for you to work on your bike while getting advice from more experienced mechanics.
n2burns
I'm not saying that's good, but I feel like I've seen far worse. Like the ones that are just a pad of cement and a pole with a bus sign. There might be nearby businesses to indicate where people could go when they use the bus, maybe a desire path, but no actual pedestrian infrastructure.
The original post was about GTA, so I talked about the GTA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I didn't know they were extending the Confederation Line. As I said, it's a completely different region of the province, and I'm not as familiar with the national capital region. However, I know this statement
5 years ago, there was no rail system
is BS. The Trillium line is over 2 decades old.
That's not a project in progress, so I didn't include it. It's also in a completely different region than the GTA, while all those projects are in the GTHA (except maybe Waterloo).
Pretty much all public works projects go over budget. Pretty much all private private projects also go over budget. However, people only complain about public transit projects going over budget. There are some legitimate reasons for this, like lack of institutional knowledge, but I think people hyper-fixate on public transit while roads "just have to be built, whatever the cost."
TBF, Ontario (and most importantly, Toronto) are going through the biggest transit expansion in all of North America. For those unaware, I'll list some of the projects by transit agency:
- TTC (Toronto local transit) has a new metro (the Ontario Line/eventually Line 3), and 2 new LRT/light-metro lines under construction
- GO (region transit) is undergoing a huge expansion where they're increasing frequency and electrifying the lines, while also doing a bunch of smaller projects to decrease travel times and points of conflict
- Mississauga/Brampton have the Hurontario LRT under construction (also owned by GO/Metrolinx, but local transit, so I separated it)
- Hamilton's LRT is in planning
- ION LRT in Waterloo is planning Stage 2
There are too many bike infrastructure projects to mention, and a lot of new urbanist developments.
At the same time, the provincial government also has a number of projects that are crazy car-centric, like Highway 413, so it's not all good.
And to be honest, I'm not a fan of sources reporting on themselves. Even if I considered this a reputable source (I have no opinion on it either way), I would want a third-party article.
I'm glad to see other people go into Linux for positive reasons instead of just hating Windows. What really got me was Compiz. Initially, it was all the crazy effects like wobbly windows, but soon I realized how much I liked the "Workspace" paradigm and then being able to customize things as much as I wanted. Then, the whole free software thing, distro-hopping, the great communities, etc.
Why have we barely expanded the system since the city consisted of 30% of the current population?
Unfortunately, we can't do anything about the past. However, the current projects give me hope for the future.
TBF, the GTA is seeing the biggest transit expansion in their history, and by far the biggest expansion in North America. TTC has the Ontario Line, Line 5, and Line 6 under construction. GO Expansion is making huge improvements, from more frequent service to electrification to a lot of smaller projects that will improve travel time and reduce conflicts. Then there's projects outside the core like the LRT projects in Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
At the same time, the Ford government seems to want to have it both ways with the 413, cutting tolls, eliminating registration fees, etc.
EDIT: Added some other projects outside the core.
I don't think I've ever had to log into the Google Home app, it just uses the accounts on my phone. Or is this some sort of situation where, "I'm too Android to understand this problem?"
That's definitely a good place to start. You also might want to check out any local Universities/Colleges. My University had a bike shop that was basically a co-op, but it's officially owned by the Student Union. I took a repair class and regret not continuing to learn by volunteering to work on their donated/salvaged bikes.
The other option might be looking for less formal repair networks. For example I know some groups have repair clinics every-so-often in local parks. Or even local cycling groups, or word of mouth. A lot of people are more than happy to share their passion for bicycles and maybe you can find a mentor.