I'm sure many of you read the article in last week's Globe with the headline: "T chief says system 'broke' despite fare hikes" and shrugged, I can't really blame you.  How many times in recent memory have we heard this — T General Manager Dan Grabauskas "has ruled out another fare increase this year ... and declined to predict when the next fare increase will come" — as a prelude to new hikes?

What I wondered, through the haze of déjà vu all over again, was: where is Deval on this?

Some may recall that back in 2006 when the last T fare hike became a campaign issue Deval embraced the issue of public transit, to the point of even using it once (this was before DeVilleGate, obviously), and speaking out at the June 6th public hearing at the Boston Public Library against fare increases.

The Herald reported at the time:

Staking out populist turf, gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick today will call on MBTA officials to shelve a proposed fare hike and give commuters a break.

"At a time when gas prices are through the roof, we should not be raising fares," said Patrick, who will testify at a public hearing on proposed fare increases this afternoon at the Boston Public Library.

Yesterday, Patrick rode the commuter rail from Route 128 to Back Bay to hear commuters' views about MBTA service. Today Patrick campaign volunteers will fan out over more than a dozen MBTA subway and commuter rail stations in several communities to pass out campaign literature during the morning and evening commutes.

Patrick praised recent moves by the MBTA to improve service and accessibility on its trains, buses and subways. But he said commuters ought to be encouraged to take public transit, which would benefit the environment and conserve energy. The fare hikes will only drive them away, he said.

Candidate Deval was pretty unambiguous in his opposition to T fare hikes, which, in conjunction with the automated fare collection system, were instituted in an intentionally confusing manner and have inarguably hit low income and non-English-speaking riders hardest. 

Once elected Patrick continued to pay lip service to fixing the MBTA's debt spiral, but it's no longer a flashpoint, and so no longer a priority for his administration.  If you check the governor's website, you'll find his take on the MBTA's troubles:

Since the MBTA is a quasi-independent agency, Governor Patrick has no administrative control over its daily business. Issues regarding the MBTA can be directed to their Complaints/Commendations line at 617-222-5215.

Grabauskas, on the other hand, recently told BostonNow

closing the gap will be up to Gov. Deval Patrick and the state Legislature. ... All Grabauskas can do is work on the one factor that may be within his control - ridership, he said.

The legislature has taken up the issue again.  The Globe reports:

Earlier this year, a panel appointed by the Legislature to evaluate the transportation budget problems recommended using state money outside the T's budget to pay off some of the authority's debt, but Governor Deval Patrick has not directly responded to the suggestion.

(By the way, "The transportation finance panel recommended the T increase fares by about 10 percent [using the Big Dig Rule, figure 25 percent] every three years, so riders would not see big increases all at once.")

The T is in Patrick's 2009 budget, of course.  Patrick is gambling on his casino proposal, which has yet to pass, to cover the costs.  But this still does nothing to cure the cause of the debt spiral that is in turn responsible for constant fare increases.

Aside from being just a generally sad state of affairs, it's a timely lesson in the difference between campaigning and governing that the latest "Yes We Can" crowd might do well to take to heart.