A look back at 2019
Written byWhat a year it has been – from the Game of Thrones finale to the Nationals’ first World Series win, 2019 has been a memorable one. And at Uber, we’ve been busy, too! We added public transit to the Uber app, launched electric bikes and scooters across the world, took a small step towards sustainability with opt-in utensils on Uber Eats, and observed exciting trends in how people used Uber this year.
Riders love to use Uber when traveling. The Empire State Building once again reigns supreme as the most frequently Ubered-to tourist attraction, with Disneyland and the Louvre gaining traction. The most popular travel destinations across the world include:
- Empire State Building
- Freedom Tower
- CN Tower
- Arc de Triomphe
- Eiffel Tower
- The Louvre
- Burj Khalifa
- Disneyland
- Buckingham Palace
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Sydney Opera House
- Berlin Wall
- The Blue Mosque
- The Vatican
- Great Pyramid of Giza
US tourists took the most international trips in:
- Mexico
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Brazil
- France
- India
- Australia
- Colombia
- Portugal
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Peru
- Dominican Republic
- South Africa
The Saturday of St. Patrick’s Day weekend was the most popular day to use Uber in the US for the second year in a row. And the two nights people celebrated Halloween – October 26 and November 2 – followed closely behind.
Changing lanes, we saw riders bike and scoot more than 24 million miles globally – that’s up almost 5x from 2018! Paris, Sacramento and Seattle were the cities that clocked the most mileage on bikes, while Berlin, Malaga and San Diego clocked the most scooter mileage.
And 2019 was a big year for Uber Eats, too. We completed our billionth delivery and uncovered some noteworthy trends. Check out the most popular Eats orders of 2019 below, along with a few of our predictions for next year’s big trends.
Looking back at 2019, a few stats standout:
- Eaters across the world were ordering their favorite foods to landmark locations. We saw thousands of orders delivered to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Parliament House in Australia, and the CN Tower in Toronto.
- Salads are here to stay. In fact, if you stacked all the heads of lettuce from the salads delivered in 2019, it would be the height of 893 Burj Khalifas.
- Soup continues to increase in popularity as we head toward 2020. Bone broth and udon are increasing in searches, and ramen kept our eaters warm and cozy all year long. The total length of all the noodles delivered in 2019 is 13x longer than the distance from San Francisco to Tokyo.
- So much sushi was delivered this year that the total weighs almost as much as 8 humpback whales. And if you lined up all the mozzarella sticks delivered in 2019, it would be 47x deeper than the deepest part of the ocean.
- French fries were the most popular dish ordered in 2019. But green juice was still in high demand! In fact, customers in El Paso, Charleston and Los Angeles had the biggest hankerings for it, and ordered it most often.
- Toronto was our most caffeinated city this year, where we saw the most coffee orders on Uber Eats. And our eaters stay up late, too – peak time to order a late night nibble was 11pm.
2019’s most searched and ordered foods won’t surprise you – folks craved pizza, sushi, wings, and ramen across the country. Some super popular items that might surprise you? Boba, dumplings and crepes.
But what will you be ordering in 2020? We took a look at which food searches are accelerating in popularity on Uber Eats and uncovered a few key trends rising to the top as we approach the new decade – from collagen to squid ink to the highly ‘grammable starfruit. And a few faves are here to stay. Check out the rest of our predictions:
- Starfruit
- Squid ink
- Collagen
- Reishi
- Keto
- Brussels sprouts
- Farro
- Harissa
- Pho
- Bone broth
- Chickpea hummus
- Cold brew
- Cauliflower
- Udon
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Impossible burger
- Kimchi
- Ginger
- Oat milk
We thank you for riding, driving, JUMPing and eating with us this year – we can’t wait to be a part of your 2020.