Jakarta jams worsen with shelving of car occupancy rule

Jakarta

EVEN on the best of days, it looks like an invasion, although a very slow one: Troops of motorbikes, like a disorganised cavalry, try to slice through enormous, honking lines of buses, trucks, private cars and taxis that are locked in a crawling war of attrition on sclerotic highways and roads.

The war zone extends to sidewalks, a convenient shortcut for impatient motorbike drivers; and pedestrians and food cart vendors disrupt the traffic flow even more by illegally crossing the thoroughfares.