Jakarta's three-to-one car rule suspended after 10 years

Traffic-clogged Jakarta began to suspend its peak-time rule of three people to one car on Tuesday.

Lines of people from women holding babies to school age children, with a hand held up to show they're for hire, are usually a ubiquitous sight on the Indonesian capital's busiest roads during rush hour.

But without the peak-time rule, the passengers for hire, known as jockeys, who helped drivers cheat the traffic controls, will be out of a job.

By lifting the 3-in-1 rule, city authorities will be testing what happens to congestion.

If there's no difference to the number of cars on the road, they'll know that a system in place for more than a decade is broken.

Abandoning the policy will be bad news for the poor in a city where maddening traffic produces numerous novel ways to eke out a living.

Apart from jockeys, there are self-appointed U-turn police and parking wardens who are tipped by drivers despite sometimes hindering more than helping.

The trial ends on 13 April.