Why I'm building Chalo Bhai
I'm Mudassir, a developer in Karachi. Chalo Bhai is a free community project to make sharing a daily commute easier in this city.
The groups already exist. The coordination is the hard part.
Karachi has active carpool groups on Facebook and WhatsApp. Every day people post in them: a route, a time, a number of seats, or a request for one. The demand is obvious. So is the problem.
A post about Gulshan to Saddar at 8am sits between one about DHA to Korangi and another about a weekend trip to Hyderabad. To find a match you scroll, search, comment, message, wait, and often start again the following week. People who would make good carpool partners never see each other's posts.
None of that is the fault of the groups or the people who run them. A feed is simply the wrong tool for matching routes. That is a problem software can solve, and it is the kind of problem I know how to work on.
What Chalo Bhai is
Chalo Bhai matches people who drive the same route to work or university every day with people who need a ride on it. You post your route, days and timing once. The app looks for overlaps and shows you people who fit. If you both accept, you connect on WhatsApp, agree a fuel share and start commuting together.
It is fuel-cost sharing between commuters. It is not a taxi or ride-hailing service, drivers are not earning a profit, and Chalo Bhai takes no commission.
What it is not
It is not a venture-funded startup. There are no investors and no growth targets to hit, and I would rather say that plainly than dress the project up as something bigger. It is one developer building a tool for his own city, in the open.
That also means I won't tell you things that aren't true. The app is still in development. There are no users to quote and no launch date I am willing to promise. What exists today is this website, a waitlist and a product being built.
How you can help
A carpool app only works when enough people on the same route have joined. The waitlist tells me which routes to open first. If you commute in Karachi, add your route. If you know someone who drives to the office alone every morning, send them this page.
I'm sharing progress as I build.
Questions, ideas or criticism are welcome at support@chalbhai.co. You can also read how it works or go through the frequently asked questions.
Mudassir, Karachi
Chalo, saath chalte hain
The app is in development. Tell us your route and we'll message you on WhatsApp when early access opens for it.
- Free to join, and no commission when the app launches
- Early access goes to routes with the most signups first
- One WhatsApp message when your route opens. No spam.