Choice is a beautiful thing. Whether it’s getting your martini shaken or stirred or deciding who to message next in the online dating pool, it’s good to know you have options. 😉

That’s why, starting this week around the world, you’ll be able to select the type of Uber you want to get. Although we’re a global company, we were born in San Francisco, so this is our way of celebrating America’s birthday.

For us, July 4th, 2012 is about freedom of choice. You asked us for taxis. You asked us to let you go out with more than three friends, and fit your bikes in the back. You asked us for cheaper Uber. Now you’ve got it!

Our classic black car option will continue to be available in all cities but we’ll be rolling out multiple types of vehicles on a city by city basis:

TAXI (Chicago only)

No flagging or yelling required! Use Uber to request and pay for a taxi, at standard taxi rates.

UberX (SF and NYC only)

The convenience of Uber at a lower price with our hybrid and mid-range cars in a variety of colors. Seats up to 4 people.

Black Car

Our classic black car option is the default. Choose this and either a high-end sedan or SUV will be curbside in minutes.  Note: choosing “Black” and being picked up by an SUV will not charge you our SUV rates. Seats up to 4 people.

SUV

When you’re rolling with more than four people, request only SUVs, for a higher rate. Seats up to 6 people.

Initially, only some clients in San Francisco and New York can request UberX. I know, I know… you want UberX now!

We want you to have it too. However, we would need over 1000 cars to meet initial demand and maintain our standards. Our partners are buying cars to put on the system so we’re rolling this out to a few lucky folks out of the gate and growing it as more cars come online. We’ll be rolling out broadly over the coming months to more people and more cities. Sign up to get near the front of the UberX line!

To choose what type of vehicle you want, you’ll need to use our iPhone or Android apps. At the top of the map, select the type of vehicle you want. Set your pickup location, hit request and that’s it! As usual, you’ll receive a text letting you know that your driver is on the way, and another when the driver has arrived. At any time, you can also view our rates by selecting the car types icon in the top right corner.

We can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to release this, and provide you with more options for transportation in your city! Keep an eye on http://uber.com/learn. It will be updated with options and prices for each city as they are announced.