Austin’s Uber drivers ferried their share of tacos around town during SXSW this year. By the company’s count, folks ordered 5,893 tacos via Uber Eats. Burgers weren’t far behind, with 4,578 ordered.
Then, we’ve got the kicker: The largest order placed on the app was for 43 burritos, tacos and nachos. I’m going out on a limb to guess that the order might have been placed at a party after a few adult beverages — or who knows, coulda been a children’s birthday party. Nonetheless, it was busy times — as expected.
One of the more interesting Uber stats showed that SXSW visitors hailed from a total of 460 different cities in 79 different countries. That’s a nice bragging right for both Uber and SXSW because it shows how far their brands reach.
And those out-of-town/state/country friends of ours were often getting rides from Texans who came to Austin to scoop up additional fares. Texas Uber drivers came from as far as El Paso (gotta think they had more planned than just driving) and, of course, from nearby cities like San Antonio.
The most baffling figure of them all, at least to this writer, is the highest number of trips taken by a single rider during SXSW. I wouldn’t have been shocked by 50. Maybe even 75 could happen.
But, nope, there was a single rider who grabbed an Uber 109 times. That’s about 10-12 rides a day.
And there’s even more SXSW data from Simpli.fi, a Fort Worth startup that used geo-fencing and sensors to monitor foot traffic at the Austin Convention Center and the airport the week before SXSW and then during the festival to see how things change.
Their data showed a 25 percent increase in traffic at the airport (compared to an average day) on March 14, when the Interactive portion of the festival was winding down and the music acts were just starting. The same day saw the most traffic at the convention center.
