Hey, governor, welcome to the T

It's a burden for more than 600,000 of Governor Mitt Romney's constituents: the cost of a subway ride.

But asked at a news conference yesterday about the price of a token, Romney stumbled.

''A buck," he gamely responded.

That was the correct price -- in 2003. Informed of the $1.25 it now costs, Romney told reporters ''OK, I'll give you a quarter," then laughed and descended into Park Street Station.

Romney, who lives in Belmont and is frequently driven around the state by an aide, visited the T stop yesterday to reassure commuters that the Boston subway remains safe despite the latest explosions in London. But his gaffe had some commuters fuming once again about the increase that went into effect in January 2004. Others simply got a good chuckle out of it, and one straphanger had a theory about Romney's faux pas.

''He's busy thinking about running for higher office," said James Shepard, 58, of Dorchester, who regularly takes the Red and Green lines to the VA hospital.

As Timothy O'Leary, 67, stood waiting yesterday at the JFK-UMass Red Line stop, he had a suggestion for the governor: ''If he thinks it's a dollar, make it a dollar."

The rest of Romney's day didn't go quite as planned, either. First, a homeless man harassed him on the way to the Park Street T, loudly demanding at the news conference: ''Are you running for president?" Later came the ''cat lady" -- Heidi Erickson, locally infamous for allegedly hoarding cat carcasses in her Beacon Hill apartment -- who screamed, ''You killed my cats," and scuffled with transit police as Romney spoke at Park Street Station.

Romney was also asked by a reporter yesterday about when he last rode the subway. He could only recall recent press events at T stops.

''Let's see it was, we did it with the Charlie card and then also the . . . it was with [Senate] President [Robert E.] Travaglini -- I'm trying to recall," he said, asking aloud, ''We were at a station, what was it . . . Ashmont station? Ashmont station, it was Ashmont station . . . It's not my regular commute."

The MBTA board, whose members include gubernatorial appointees, increased the fare to $1.25 from $1 on the first weekend in January 2004, adding an estimated $49 million annually to the transit system's then $280 million yearly revenue.

Romney made his T fare slip amid criticism that he has become preoccupied with a potential 2008 run for the presidency. He has attempted to emphasize his focus on Massachusetts and yesterday rushed back from Washington, where he had been attending a fund-raiser for senator Elizabeth Dole, Republican of North Carolina.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Romney was focused on highlighting subway security arrangements following the London subway bombings. The subway fare question, said Fehrnstrom, ''seemed to be a little off topic."

But some commuters were not quite buying it. Linda Robins, 42, a sausage vendor at Park Street station, listened to the governor.

''The reason he has all these people," she said, gesturing toward Romney's aides, ''is he doesn't know where the subway is. I wouldn't mind, but he never takes the train. Dukakis used to take the train."

One of the men standing beside Romney, MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas, defended the governor. ''Anybody can forget the price of something," he said.

Robert Robinson, 69, a T rider from Charlestown, said Romney was wise to avoid subway rides.

''Why would he take the train?" he said. ''He's the governor, come on. I wouldn't want him down in the subway. Look what they did in England."

Romney's gaffe recalled President George H.W. Bush's puzzlement during the 1992 campaign over a supermarket scanner, seen by many as patrician aloofness. The charge has been disputed by some, but has neverthless dogged the elder Bush ever since.

Asked about Romney's comments, former Democratic governor Michael Dukakis, who at age 71 qualifies for the reduced senior citizens T fare, said: ''All I know is that I'm riding the T for 35 cents, the best value in America."

Mac Daniel of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Michael Levenson contributed to this report.