While taking a little wander to the front of the Town Hall, I happened to bump into Mayor Simon Murray, who was whistling quietly to himself as he tried to look inconspicuous by pacing slowly.

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"People running this system will certainly get a lot of benefit from it," he blurted out when he saw me.

What a strange start to a conversation.

When we realised we were both there for the same reason we relaxed and climbed aboard ARDI for our last minute rides. So how many people had done the same thing?

Well, the driver - sorry, we never quite got past that, did we? I mean, the attendant, sustainable engineer Josh Drielsma, said there were about 1000 people who rode on the bus as of January. At the end of Phase two, that figure sat on 1200.

The vehicle called "The Toaster" by UNE students had not done too badly indeed, if you forgot about the traffic it held up.

Josh assured us ARDI knew his way to the storage shed he would be kept in until he was shipped off to another town.

Even though we laughed at the thought, it somehow seemed like a sad little fact.

"You know, I think what it has achieved is the main thing," Simon said.

"It was put in an environment that has been really testing, going around town.

"Dealing with pedestrians walking across the road, dealing with school traffic."

Kate Blackmore was a fellow traveller who said she was really enthused about the program.

"I had seen it around, but never had a ride on it. So, I thought I'd whip down today and have one last go on it" she said.

"I hear that this project ... will be relocated to another area to do some more research.

"I was a bit disappointed it was going somewhere else, but very impressed that our university, local businesses and council supported the trial."

Kate said it was interesting to see how ARDI had negotiated a truck parked on the side of the road with part of its tray protruding slightly onto the roadway.

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