So, is Dan Grabauskas really leaving the T in January? Amy Derjue, crack reporter/blogger over at Boston Magazine, exchanges e-mail with the T's Joe Pesaturo and asks him about the rumor. He sort of answers the question.

Only a rumor; tell me if wrong.

Channel 5 reports the shocking news (to them, anyway) that Green Line and bus drivers often wave passengers on without bothering to see if they have passes or money. It was, at least, good to see Dan Grabauskas acknowledge that fare collection is, indeed, a priority at the T. Again.

It's true! Also, things aren't going quite as swimmingly at the MBTA as he might like.

And Globe photo caption writers need to bone up on Boston geography (see comments below).

Patrick jawbones Grabauskas.

Train Rider muses:

I must say - the media loves MBTA GM Dan Grabauskas. I just don't get the love affair? Why are they so hard on other elected officials and public leaders, but they just give Dan softballs everytime?

As a recovering reporter, I think the answer's actually fairly simple: Grabauskas gives reporters and editors what they crave: Access - or, at least, the appearance of access. Imagine how the current "We're going to die!" fare-increase story would have played out if, oh, a Globe reporter had ferreted out the possibility of massive increases in some obscure document related to the Green Line expansion project (maybe in some appendix on financing the work). There'd be outrage, outrage! Instead, Grabauskas simply arranged a series of interviews with local media types and got in front of the story. It's good media management.

Do as Dan Grabauskas says, not as he does. Sure, you can't expect the general manager of a farflung system like the MBTA to rely on his own system to get to emergencies, but, honestly, an SUV (granted, a hybrid SUV)? Really, Dan: Unless you're personally jumping out of your SUV in a bog to rescue people, a Prius will get you to trolley collisions just as fast. Also, gotta love this:

The message of Dump the Pump, he added, is to encourage people with less demanding schedules to take the T.

When can we expect the PSAs on the T?

Hi, this is T General Manager Dan Grabauskas, and if I had a less demanding schedule, I'd be right there on the platform with you, so take the T and dump the pump!

The Outraged Liberal explains why, if you're going to get upset about raises at the T in times like these, you should direct your ire toward Dan Grabauskas and his incompetent managers, because they knew the union would likely be awarded a raise in arbitration and yet did nothing to try to budget for it:

... Yakking on about the concessions he has obtained as part of those talks can't hide the act that Grabauskas and his team failed basic accounting.

Did they really think the arbitrator would not award salary increases and make them retroactive to the start of negotiations?

And we're not talking about excessive compensation. We are talking about roughly 3 percent annually, which I would venture is probably par for the course in just about every business. ...

One person's love for the T general manager.

Suddenly, Dan Grabauskas is everywhere - and not just on PA systems 'neath the streets of Boston. Today, the daring T general manager vows to go after subway fare evaders. Sure, it's roughly two years after legitimate riders first started complaining about how easy the new fare system made evasion, but better late than never. Maybe next year, he'll even figure out that people evade fares on the trolleys, too.