Longest ride and busiest days… Uber reveals UK travel habits over the last ten years

It has been ten years since the first Uber trip was taken in London. To mark the milestone, the ride-hailing giants have released some interesting facts and data.

According to Uber, the average trip distance is a healthy 4.51 miles, but that comes nowhere near topping the list for the longest journey to date. One rider in July 2018 was collected at Heathrow Terminal Five and travelled all the way to Loch Lomond in Scotland. The record breaking journey was over a whopping 438km taking over six hours.

Uber’s busiest day in the UK so far came in the run-up to Christmas in 2019, with over one million completed rides in twenty-four hours on 14 December, one of the most popular ‘office party’ nights of the year. Also in the list of the busiest days to date, was 30 October 2021 as the UK set about celebrating Halloween.

Uber data reveals that the top visited cities in the UK are Leeds, London, Manchester and Birmingham. More specifically, the most popular locations in the UK over the last decade have all been train stations, namely:

• New Station St, Leeds

• London King's Cross

• Manchester Piccadilly

• Birmingham New Street

• Victoria Station.

Back in September 2012, there were a total of 69 drivers working with Uber. Today, the number of drivers surpasses 85,000.

From a rider point of view, at the same time in 2012, there were 1,288 individual riders utilising the app, with the number in 2022 exceeding five million from across the country.

To mark the 10 year milestone, the UK’s new General Manager met with hundreds of drivers at an event in London, many of whom have been driving on Uber for over a decade.

Andrew Brem, General Manager at Uber, said: “This week I had the chance to meet many of the wonderful drivers who have driven on Uber for the last 10 years, all of which have played a crucial role in growing the business into what it is today. I wanted to personally thank them for their commitment and professionalism in getting our riders where they need to go and changing the way our cities move. Uber has continuously evolved over the last decade which has enabled us to take the lead on important issues such as electric vehicles, safety and worker rights. The journey continues with drivers at the heart of everything we do.”