4 min read
A Reddit post in the r/islamabad community has sparked quite some attention for being a Godsend for the people of Islamabad-Rawalpindi.
The post came with a confession that feels part amazing tech tale and part civic surprise, a young developer from Islamabad by the name of Abdullah Qaisar has come forward, saying: “Government is spending millions on an app I built and launched for free.”
What began as one youngster’s frustration over missing bus schedules has now evolved into a tech breakthrough. Safar app is offering a sleek, reliable metro and feeder bus guide that the government itself has yet to deliver.
How It All Came to Be
Earlier this year, when CDA buzzed over the launch of electric feeder buses in Islamabad, developer Abdullah Qaisar noticed something: one of the routes stopped right outside his house but the route map and timings were nowhere to be found.
“I saw the buses almost daily,” Qaisar told TechJuice in an exclusive interview, “but I had no idea of their route or schedule. All I saw was the end station listed.”
Hoping for answers, he hunted online, finding outdated maps and Facebook groups acting as makeshift transit help lines. Thousands asked and replied, yet no easy, reliable solution existed.
With a spark of inspiration and his background in software engineering, Qaisar started building what would become Safar, a smart route planning app for Metro and feeder buses.
People on the same Subreddit have been nothing but praises for this initiative. One comment read:
“Hey, I saved your browser link to my home page the first time you uploaded it on the subreddit, used it a bit ND showed it to my friends too. We all thought it was so cool, thanks for the help!”
Another one wrote:
“It is a great work and public service that you are doing, bro. If it were paid, I wouldn’t hesitate to pay for it, not only because the app quality is good, also because you deserve to earn money from any work that you do.”
Safar App: Designed for You and Built by One Man
Launched in March as a web app and now growing fast, Safar includes features commuters dream of:
- Intelligent route planning for Metro and feeder buses
- Real-time station locator
- Interactive network map with Red, Blue, Orange, Green, and Feeder lines
- Fare calculator to estimate cost before boarding
- Schedules and stop info
- Complete privacy with zero data collection
Qaisar modestly accepted that he had help from other sources. He got aboard Faizan Khattak, a passionate cartographer working on route mapping independently. His maps had already been in use in Facebook groups and WhatsApp channels. Khattak’s design expertise helped make Safar both functional and easy to use.
“Since 2022, I have wished to see a functional app for public transport in Islamabad – Rawalpindi. When I learned that Abdullah Qaisar was working to make this a reality, I was incredibly excited to join the effort. I’m honored to contribute to what is now the city’s first-ever route planner,” Khattak wrote on his LinkedIn.
Why Safar Matters Beyond Its Coded Lines
Qaisar has his eyes set on expansion. “We want Safar to become the go-to public transport guide across Pakistan,” he shared. Plans are in motion for Lahore, Karachi, and beyond pending cooperation with transport authorities or through careful manual route mapping.
“I collected all route data myself for Islamabad. It’s a constant effort but with support, scaling to other cities would be much faster,” he said. “If relevant authorities are willing to collaborate, we can expand to more cities very quickly.”
Safar is a story of how passion and civic need can join hands to create change. For commuters of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, the concept offers clarity and comfort. For the tech community, it is a call to action, proof that innovation can thrive from neighborhood frustrations to social movements. Qaisar also elaborated that he used tools like Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Vercel & Google Cloud Platform, and Cursor and Claude to make the app.
In cities where buses run but maps do not, Safar aims to one day provide similar services. Till then, there is hope. It is also important to note here that no government initiative or official has approached Safar app maker or facilitators to help out with the mapping and route tracking.
Safar app is used by 15,000+ people and has helped identify 25,000+ routes. You can use Safar on Android phones, and as a web app. iOS app is currently in development.
