In the late 1940s, the use of daylight saving time, known as fast time, became popular in cities. Indiana is officially in the central time zone, but some communities choose to follow fast time throughout the year, essentially aligning themselves with the Eastern time zone. Student Laura Grant, while supporters of daylight saving time point to studies such as Professor Kotchen, the Department of Transportation and organizations such as the California Energy Commission say that the United States saves approximately 1% of energy when observing daylight saving time. This commitment was the result of legislation signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972, which placed most of Indiana in Eastern Time, except for the Northwest and Southwest counties, although they observed daylight saving and fall time.
The only clear consensus that emerges is that most oppose the double time that would result from being in Eastern Standard Time and changing to Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Those who oppose putting the entire state in one time zone often cite out-of-state cities as their reason for opposition. Shanks, where the author identifies 345 areas of the state with a different time zone history for each. But in 1985, the Indiana General Assembly, in Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 of 1985, called on the USDOT to move five southwestern Indiana counties (Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer and Gibson) from the central time zone to the eastern time zone.
You've probably noticed that the time changes in the Michiana region every so often. When does this happen? Is it a matter of daylight savings or is it something else? If you live in the area, it's important to know what you can expect and how it affects you.
Dubois County
If you are interested in learning more about the time change in Dubois County, Indiana, you should check the current status of Daylight Saving Time. The state of Indiana is split into two time zones, with the exception of six counties in the southwest. Those six counties were placed in the Central Time Zone with the observance of Daylight Saving Time.
In the southeastern portion of the state, several counties border Louisville, Kentucky. This includes Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Ohio and Dearborn counties. A number of elected officials in these counties vehemently oppose the proposed time zone change.
As part of the process, the DOT conducted several hearings. Residents and businesses had the opportunity to comment. Various business concerns were raised, including attendance issues, employee satisfaction, and delivery schedules.
Perry County
The state of Indiana will move clocks one hour forward on March 8, 2008. In addition, five more counties are scheduled to do the same. These counties are Daviess, Dubois, Knox, Martin, and Pike.
The counties petitioned the DOT to change their time zones. They also asked for a bill to keep daylight saving time from returning to standard time in 2023.
The DOT did not agree with the petition, and did not appear to support the move. However, the agency did issue a "Supplemental Notice" that seems to focus on the connection between Perry County and other counties.
Perry County, Indiana is a small county with an economy that is dominated by Manufacturing. Most workers in the county drive alone to work. This means that their commutes are short.
St. Joseph County
One of the most controversial proposals was for St. Joseph County to change its time zone. The proponents argued that the change would serve the convenience of commerce. Some elected officials strongly supported the move while others vehemently opposed it.
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce submitted various data to support the move, including import-export figures, safety arguments, and a county profile. State representative Steve Heim also supported the move.
In addition, there were many commenters who urged the change. For example, some claimed that a change to central time would lead to improved safety for children, while others pointed to a possible difficulty in securing trucking services.
Vermillion County
The official dividing line between Indiana and Ohio has moved westward. This means that the state's time zone is now Eastern Standard Time, rather than Central Standard Time. It also means that most of Kentucky is now in the Eastern time zone, rather than the Central time zone.
In 2005, the Indiana legislature passed a bill to make Daylight Saving Time uniform across the entire state. However, several counties still do not observe DST. Some county officials are happy about the new addition.
Until 2006, Indiana did not observe DST. During this period, the local mean time in the state varied from GMT-5:39 in the east to GMT-5:52 in the west.
Elkhart, Kosciusko, and Marshall
It's a question that has been on the minds of many in the northwest and southwest parts of the state. Does Elkhart, Kosciusko, and Marshall in Indiana do the time change or should they remain in the Eastern Time Zone?
In an effort to make a decision on the time zone issue, the US Department of Transportation held several public hearings. As of December 30, 2005, the USDOT had received 6142 comments. Of the many comments, 2057 favored changing the time zone to the Central Time Zone. The rest were more interested in the same time zone as surrounding counties.
The "other" category consisted of 1045 comments. Many commenters cited markets, regions, and agencies.
Keeping the Michiana region on the same time zone
Keeping the Michiana region on the same time zone was one of the many issues addressed during the public hearings held in Jasper, Terre Haute, and Logansport. Elected officials from both sides expressed conflicting views on the proposed time zone change.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted public hearings in several counties across the state. Thousands of people submitted comments, including letters and petitions, to the DOT. These comments were organized in three areas, and included personal opinions, statistics, and arguments based on regional divisions.
Some counties sought to move to the Central Time Zone, while others were more interested in staying in the same time zone as their neighbors. Several commissioners spoke in support of their county's petition. In addition to county government representatives, several business and individual interests were represented.
Because much of Indiana is on the western border of the Eastern Time Zone, many in the state were opposed to observing daylight saving time there for decades. As a result, the USDOT was ordered to stop informing Indiana residents that the Uniform Time Act would not apply and to provide a plan for its implementation (see Time Life Broadcast Company, Inc.). The rest of the state was placed in the Eastern Time Zone; the state received a special waiver to exempt parts of itself from daylight saving time. On November 18, 1883, telegraph lines transmitted GMT to major cities, where each city had to adjust its official time to its corresponding zone.
Indiana enacted the statute, officially placing northwest and southwest Indiana in the central time zone, in observance of daylight saving time, and the rest of the state in Eastern Standard Time throughout the year. Most of the state is in the Eastern Time Zone, but several counties near Gary and Evansville remain in the central time zone. In some areas, the available sunlight is not adequate to safely defrost roads so that school buses pick up all their passengers on time. The base chose to recognize central time, since the portion of Martin County was larger than the parts of Greene and Lawrence combined.
In 1961, the Indiana legislature repealed the 1957 law that made central time official Indiana time, allowing any community to observe daylight saving time.
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