As an example of what crash energy management (CEM) principles can mean to carbody mass, it is useful to compare the 70% low-floor LRVs built for New Jersey Transit with those delivered to Santa Clara County (San Jose), California. The latter were constructed to the 2-g criterion under California PUC regulation 143-B while the former were designed around crash energy management (CEM) principles. The same carbuilder produced both cars, and they have the same overall dimensions, performance, and capacity.
The California car has a maximum wheel load at AW2 loading that is 540 pounds [245 kg] greater than that of the New Jersey LRV, a difference of 3.2 tons [2.9 metric tonnes] per car. The difference will result in appreciable propulsion energy cost savings over the life cycle of the New Jersey Transit car as well as less loading and wear and tear on the track.
