Yogyakarta, one of the most popular cities in Indonesia, has various nicknames including being referred to as a student city, cultural city, and tourism city. This resulted in the city filled with newcomers either to just travel or settle some time to study and work. The influx of new arrivals led to an increase in population and in the volume of private vehicles in the city. This also caused high congestion and the occurrence of exhaust emissions. To lessen those problems, DIY Regional Government made mass transportation (e.g., Trans Jogja) to fulfill the public transportation needs. However, that idea was not able to solve the issue. Besides, the inadequate public transportation caused the number of motor vehicles to rise which had a domino effect in increasing air pollution in Yogyakarta. This issue motivated a group of UNY students; Cecep Wahyu Cahyana (Information Technology study program), Reyhan Aditya Adam (Mechatronics Engineering Education program) and Prawesti Eka Listyaningrum (Accounting study program) to create an environmentally friendly and congestion-free transportation called Sky Trem.

According to Cecep Wahyu Cahyana, Sky Trem is a tram type transportation where it uses electricity in its operation so that it is more environmentally friendly. "Sky Trem is expected to be able to break down congestion in Yogyakarta because it will have its own line that is above the main roads of Yogyakarta and utilizes empty land above the Mataram Sewer," Cecep said. Therefore, Sky Trem implements the Internet of Things (IoT) in its operations and will be integrated with other modes of transportation such as Trans Jogja. Sky Trem, in addition to being a public transportation for the mobility of the community that supports the DIY government's plan, is also intended to be able to be used as experience tourism.

Reyhan Aditya Adam added, the tram is designed with batik kawung and Tugu Jogja as the decoration and would apply yellow green as a typical color of the Yogyakarta Palace. "This two-car tram implements unmanned transportation with a timeliness of up to 99%," he said. Sky Trem is equipped with two sensors with different functions. The first sensor makes the tram stop automatically when it reaches the station by providing a signal from 100 meters before the station. Meanwhile, the second sensor is applied to the door of the tram car for mobility to open the hopper door. The distance between one another is about one kilometer. The speed of this transportation ranges from 40-60 kilometers per hour.

Prawesti Eka Listyaningrum explained that Sky Trem is outfitted with a special application to make it easier for the public to see the schedule of departure and arrival of trains as well as the purchase and payment of tickets. Ticket payments can be made by transfer, e-money, subscription, and cash. This application provides special features that are useful to get critics and advice from the public. Through this innovation, Sky Trem is expected to be able to overcome the problem of congestion and air pollution and support the realization of Yogyakarta Special Region into a smart city by providing good and advanced transportation technology. "In addition, it also answers the goal of the 11th sustainable development agenda which is 'Sustainable Cities and Settlements'" said Eka. This work managed to get funding from “Direktorat Pembelajaran dan Kemahasiswaan Kemdikbud Ristek dalam Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa Gagasan Futuristik Konstruktif” in 2021. (Dedy, Tj.Dev)