A New Way to Move

Commuting from your office is about to get much easier, now that Zoox’s autonomous robotaxi is offering free rides across SoMa, the Mission, and the Design District. As one of the first neighborhoods included in the Zoox Explorers program, you can sign up, hop in, and move through your SoMa surroundings in a purpose-built vehicle with no steering wheel, designed to glide forward or backward without turning.

Headquartered in Foster City, Zoox operates its San Francisco hub at 1300 Bryant Street, placing its testing grounds directly in SoMa’s innovation corridor. With real riders shaping the system, Zoox is turning everyday neighborhood trips into a preview of tomorrow’s mobility.

Founded in 2014, Zoox set out to rethink transportation from the ground up. Rather than retrofitting traditional vehicles with autonomous technology, the company designed a fully electric robotaxi built specifically for city use. The result is a symmetrical vehicle with no front or back, no steering wheel, and no pedals, engineered to navigate dense urban streets in either direction without the need to turn around. The interior seats four passengers facing one another, creating a more social, shared experience that feels closer to a lounge than a conventional car.

San Francisco and specifically SoMa, became one of the first launch areas for the Zoox Explorers program because of its complexity and character. The neighborhood’s dense grid, layered traffic patterns, mix of cyclists, pedestrians, delivery vehicles, and commuters make it an ideal environment to refine autonomous systems in real-world conditions.

Zoox has also partnered with SFMOMA to connect autonomous mobility with cultural discovery. SFMOMA’s exhibitions are curated to broaden perspectives and spark the imagination. Whether you’re walking through SFMOMA to admire a new exhibition or taking a Zoox ride as it moves through the city, both experiences focus on putting people at the heart of discovery.

Through the Explorers program, everyday riders become part of the development process. Feedback from real trips across SoMa helps refine safety systems, rider experience, and navigation, shaping how autonomous mobility could scale in cities like San Francisco in the years ahead.

In a neighborhood defined by evolution and experimentation, Zoox’s presence reflects SoMa’s ongoing role as a proving ground for what’s next.