Lyft is bringing premium black car service to the three largest US cities

Lyft is rolling out black car service, under the name Lyft Lux and Lux SUV, starting today in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Jose. The service will directly compete with Uber Black, which offers riders the option of requesting a ride in a luxury, black vehicle with leather or leather-like seats. This could include a BMW 5 Series, a Cadillac Escalade, or a Lincoln Navigator, for example. The only differentiator between Lux and Lux SUV is that SUV vehicles can fit at least six passengers.

The company gave drivers a heads up on this service, and even listed the launch cities on its Help page, but didn’t actually begin rolling Lux out until today. Last year, it introduced Lyft Premier to compete with Uber Select. Both ride-sharing services offer pick-ups in luxury cars (that aren’t necessarily painted black) for a higher fee. Drivers who own these cars can drive both regular and luxury passengers.

With the launch of both of these higher-end services, it’s obvious Lyft is trying to match Uber. Right now, the main differentiator between the two companies, as far as the types of rides they offer, is UberWav for wheelchair-accessible vehicles and UberXL for more affordable SUVs. Lyft offers wheelchair-accessible vehicles but they often need to be booked 24 hours in advance.