SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Google's offshoot firm Waymo announced a pilot program Tuesday to provide employees of a regional public transport agency ride in its driverless cars.

This is the "last mile" solution to help people "connect to public transportation efficiently, affordably, and safely," Waymo said.

Waymo said it is partnering with Valley Metro, the agency that operates the Phoenix area's bus and light rail systems in U.S. state of Arizona, to help its employees hail a self-driving taxi to reach the nearest pubic transport services.

The new Waymo service, which will be launched in August, will let Valley Metro employees use a smartphone-based ride-hailing app to summon an autonomous vehicle for their travels to and from public transportation to their workplace.

Waymo, one of the leading players in the self-driving industry in the United States, is currently testing its autonomous vehicles in several cities such as Phoenix, San Francisco and Detroit.