Transit ridership here is rising faster than anticipated due to high gas prices.

TransLink reported a 2.6 per cent increase in passengers in the first half of 2008, about one per cent more than expected.

Officials say a jump in transit service – up 4.3 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier – also helped boost passenger numbers.

Higher diesel prices have meanwhile driven up the cost of providing bus service, and that's hitting TransLink's bottom line.

The transportation authority now projects 2008 will end with a $3.1-million deficit, rather than the forecast $11.4-million surplus.

The board's decision not to collect more property tax to offset the scrapped parking stall tax cost TransLink $9 million.

And provincial government actions have also cut into revenue. TransLink will pay an estimated $500,000 this year in carbon tax. And it's also out $1.3 million because Victoria has allowed more businesses to get refunds from the tax they pay on diesel – a change on which TransLink wasn't advised or consulted.

TransLink still has an accumulated surplus of more than $400 million, but that is expected to dwindle in the years ahead.

Officials say they intend to work to eliminate the deficit by year end.

Despite a significant jump in bus service, TransLink opinion polling shows riders are less satisfied with transit service than they were a year ago, particularly SkyTrain and bus service.

The lowest scores came in for the convenience of the hours of operation, good connections with reasonable wait times, the adequacy of information at stops and stations, and the lack of shelters at more stations.

The overall performance of the transit system was rated good to excellent by 48 per cent of those surveyed, down from 50 per cent a year earlier.

"There’s no doubt that we’ve had many new people trying transit on account of the high gas prices, and generally they have high expectations," TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast said. "Our aim is to meet them."

Fifty-four per cent of passengers surveyed rated their safety on board SkyTrain as good to excellent (down from 58 per cent last year) and that number was 46 per cent (down from 48 per cent) at SkyTrain stations.

Those who rated safety on board buses as good or better dropped from 79 to 76 per cent, and from 70 to 66 per cent at bus stops.

TransLink promises to keep widening its Frequent Transit Network that guarantees regular bus service at least every 15 minutes.

It also says the bus fleet's new $40 million communications system, which will track exact bus locations, will give passengers real-time bus arrival information at any stop via cell phone or bus stop reader boards.