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. With a 2-to-1 vote, Dubois County Commissioners requested to be moved to the central time zone based on a public meeting, additional surveys, and detailed information in response to questions from the DOT. Business owners sometimes noticed that they would support any decision that was made and that they would adjust accordingly.
In fact, some of the county's evidence, such as the one related to transportation patterns, pointed equally to Chicago and Indianapolis, and did not admit any significant impact on the time zone in the media. Most of the speakers and non-speakers who filled out the speakers' registration cards (but left before they were called) expressed their view that Indiana should be in the same time zone, preferring central time, a result incompatible with Indiana Law and the DOT's notice of the proposed regulation. Marshall County, in northwestern Indiana, which borders 6 other Indiana counties, 4 in the eastern time zone and two that will move to the central time zone as a result of this final rule, requested a change in the central time zone. No commentator presented sufficient evidence to justify a change in time zones, and neither regional links nor transportation patterns would justify a change in the time zone to facilitate trade at this time.
Knox County Commissioners Beckwith and Bobe spoke to support the move of Dubois County to the central time zone. Requesting counties also talked about wanting to be in the same time zone as neighboring counties and often mentioned that they knew that their neighboring counties were also requesting a change. Each of the hearings received extensive media coverage, including the live webcast of the Logansport and South Bend hearings, and television, radio and newspaper reports on the hearings and the proposed changes in time zone boundaries. Although the county commissioners did not submit additional information or data, the director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission presented information in support of the central time zone that the county had not previously provided, including information on two major employers.
Cass County, in northwestern Indiana, surrounded by 5 other Indiana counties, all in the eastern time zone, requested a change to the central time zone. The Department of Transportation “leaves Cass County, Indiana, in the same time zone as the cities of Kokomo, Lafayette and Indianapolis, that is, the Carroll County Commissioners filed a petition to move to the central time zone based on 3 public hearings during which “no citizen of the county of Carroll spoke out in favor of Eastern 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. Neither county commissioners nor other commentators presented sufficient evidence to justify a change in time zones, and neither regional links nor displacement patterns would justify a change in the time zone at this time.
Leave Reply