In an effort to improve the safety of Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) designs in the U.S., while allowing for lighter vehicle designs, the ASME RT-1 Committee considered the Crash Energy Management (CEM) design approach with reduced buff load requirements.

However, concerns over compatibility with older vehicles resulted in an impasse in deciding whether to adopt a high end-to-end static strength design format or a lower end-to-end static strength design format.

ARA was brought in to find a solution to ASME's standstill.

To help the ASME RT-1 Committee develop a structural safety standard, ARA developed Crash Energy Management (CEM) requirements for Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) based on a range of static strength components and buff load requirements.