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TransLink posted a 2 percent ridership gain last year, registering 363 million rides, the agency announced earlier this week in a year-end financial and performance report.

Highlights for the year include improvements in customer satisfaction, costs, service delivery and the crime rate, TransLink officials said in a prepared statement.

"In 2012, TransLink streamlined operations, improved efficiency and delivered services to 239 million people while lifting customer satisfaction to its highest level ever," said Chief Financial Officer Cathy McLay, adding that the agency's customer service rating reached 7.7 on a 1-to-10 scale.

The number of complaints per 1 million passengers decreased to its lowest level in five years, TransLink officials said.

The agency overcame a budget deficit of $38 million (in Canadian dollars) and achieved a $7.1 million surplus for the year, they said.

TransLink also improved its vehicle maintenance practices so that rail and bus vehicles can travel farther before requiring major repairs.

In addition, the agency logged an 8.75 percent reduction in crimes against people on the transit system and reduced similar crimes on the SkyTrain system by 17 percent compared with 2011.