The Great Chicago Uber Hunt: How Many Drivers Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb? (Spoiler Alert: We Don't Actually Know)
Ah, Chicago. City of wind, deep dish pizza, and... a whole lotta Uber drivers, or so legend has it. But just how many folks are cruising around the Windy City waiting to whisk you away in a black Toyota Camry? That, my friends, is the million dollar question. Well, maybe not a million dollars, but definitely a question that's got us scratching our heads.
Uber Keeps it Hush-Hush
Unlike the amount of ketchup packets you can snag on a single McDonald's run, Uber keeps its driver numbers a closely guarded secret. tighter than a Chicago Bears fan's grip on their hopes during the draft (Zing!). This secrecy makes pinning down an exact figure about as easy as finding a decent parking spot downtown during rush hour (nearly impossible).
Flashback to Driverpalooza 2018
But fear not, intrepid data detectives! We can sift through the clues like archaeologists unearthing the world's cheesiest deep dish (looking at you, Giordano's). Cast your mind back to the heady days of 2018, a time before the Great Rideshare Rethink (brought to you by a global pandemic). A news article from that era claims a whopping 67,000 combined Uber and Lyft drivers were roaming the streets of Chicago. That's enough people to form a human Uber symbol that stretches from Wrigley Field to Millennium Park (and yes, we totally pictured that).
The Post-Pandemic Puzzle
Then came the pandemic, which put the brakes on many things, including our weekend Uber adventures. Some drivers took a permanent pitstop, while others discovered the joys (or should we say, terrors?) of homeschooling. So, what does this mean for our driver count? Buckle up, because this is where things get a little murky.
Here's the TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) for Busy Chicagoans:
- We don't have a confirmed number of Uber drivers in Chicago as of May 2024.
- In 2018, there were reportedly a combined 67,000 Uber and Lyft drivers.
- The pandemic likely shuffled the deck, but by how much is anyone's guess.
The Bottom Line: It's a Ride-Sharing Mystery!
So, the question of how many Uber drivers haunt the streets of Chicago remains a mystery, shrouded in the city's signature fog (and maybe a bit of Lake Michigan spray). But hey, that's the beauty of the open road, or should we say, the open app? The next time you hail a ride, take a moment to ponder the great Uber census unknown. After all, a little mystery never hurt anyone (except maybe those poor souls stuck waiting for a car that never seems to arrive).
