Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Las Vegas driver involved as Uber records 5 billionth trip

Uber

Eric Risberg / AP

This Wednesday, March 1, 2017, photo shows an exterior view of the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. Uber last month recorded its 5 billionth ride.

Click to enlarge photo

Michael Lima Jr. of Las Vegas was among the 156 drivers who provided Uber's 5 billionth ride on May 20, 2017.

Rideshare app Uber passed a milestone last month, recording its 5 billionth trip.

Started in 2010, opening up in just a handful of markets, the app quickly caught on and spread worldwide over the next several years.

There were 156 drivers picking up passengers at 5:29 a.m. (Pacific Daylight Time) on May 20 across the world when the 5 billionth ride was given, including one driver in Las Vegas.

Michael Lima Jr., who started as a Uber driver a few weeks before May 20 (a Saturday), said he doesn't recall the exact ride.

“I don’t remember which one because I do so many airport runs,” Lima said. “I work Uber a lot more on the weekends, about 4 hours each day, so that could be around 20 rides. It could've been any of those.”

Lima, 42, was told about being involved in the 5 billionth ride earlier this week, and he was happily surprised.

“It was random luck of the draw, and I was thrilled and I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it because I was only doing this for a month, so it was pretty neat.”

Lima, who works full-time in the logistics industry, said Uber is a great way to supplement his income.

In addition to the Las Vegas pickup, one person was picked up on a motorbike in Jakarta, Indonesia, and another hailed a ride in Mumbai, Africa.

The longest trip of the 156 rides that made up the 5 billionth ride was 17.6 miles in Singapore, and the shortest trip was in San Francisco that went .29 miles.

All 156 drivers involved in the milestone ride will receive a $500 bonus.

“For them to do that, it says a lot about the company,” Lima said.

Uber hit the 1 millionth rider mark in late 2015 after five years in service, illustrating the quick spread in the use of the app, with the addition of 4 billion riders in less than two years.

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