I found you through mistergrumpy's Live Journal (http://www.livejournal.com/users/mistergrumpy/) :)

It all started with the trains. I must follow the trains.

I went to grad school for transportation planning at the University of Cincinnati, for the same reason you have gone to grad school: TRAINS! I say take the class, if it is not too late to sign up. Studio courses are a pain while taking other classes, but I think Public Transportation Systems sounds too good to pass up.