Photo by thisisbossi.

Taxi cab rates aren’t the only thing that could be trending upward at some point over the next year — Kytja Weir has the details on WMATA’s projected $124 million budget shortfall and what that could mean for your daily commute.

Weir reports that a fare increase is all but inevitable, since the agency would be in line to enact an increase in 2012, even if it wasn’t trying to climb out of a deep budgetary hole:

The transit agency’s current policy calls for fare increases every two years, even without a budget gap. That means that, after fare increases in July 2010, another round is due. […] Metro’s policy calls for fare increases tied to the consumer price index every two years, which amounts to an approximately 5.7 percent increase for the next budget, according to Metro. That would translate to roughly 10-cent increases. But more could be necessary, Ross said, as that probably would not cover the whole gap.

During the last round of fare increases, Metro instituted very unpopular hikes which not only introduced a double digit percentage rise in the lowest Metrorail fare, but also installed a confusing “peak of the peak” system which charged riders more for trips taken during morning and afternoon rush periods.

But even those hikes were instituted to fix a slightly smaller budget gap than the one Metro is projecting for next year.

Frankly, the news couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time — advocates are currently trying to convince the federal government to not cut the amount of transit benefits that commuters can claim tax-free. If an extension is not awarded by the government by January 1, commuters will only be able to claim $125 in tax-free transit benefits each month, as opposed to the $230 they can claim currently. Benefits for parking would actually increase — given that, it stands to reason that many commuters might choose to take the additional money and drive to work instead of ride the rails.

WMATA General Manager/CEO Richard Sarles is expected to announce his budget plans in January.