Controversies regarding two time zones in
one state
A Google search (two time zones + name of state/province + controversy) could
not find one reference to any controversy with regard to two time zones in one
state. Indeed, in the one article about Indiana (see below) the authors remark
that in the USA there seems to be a remarkable lack of controversy with
regard to two time zones in one state.
There is controversy in Indiana with regards to their decision in 2005 to
adopt daylight saving. As you can appreciate there was heated debate before
the law was passed. Candidate for Governor Rex Early declared “Some of my
friends are for putting Indiana on Daylight Saving Time. Some are against it. And
I always try to support my friends.”
The situation was aggravated when shortly after the law was passed the Federal
Government mandated that all states who observed daylight saving would have
to extend the period by a further four weeks effective 2007 (all states who
observe daylight saving in the USA must abide by the dates set by the Federal
Government).
Indiana has had two time zones for many years. The fallout from the decision to
observe daylight saving in 2005 and the subsequent extension of the dates in
2007, has resulted in counties in the western part of the state petitioning the
State Government that they be allowed to move out of the Eastern time zone into
the Central time zone which is already used by some of the western counties.
Indiana lies at 40ºN and has a solar time of 12:40 -12:50pm (it lies in the
western part of the Eastern time zone). Daylight saving changes the solar time to
1:40pm – 1:50pm. It is therefore understandable why those in the western part
of the state would prefer to be in the Central time zone and have their solar time
remain at 12:50pm with daylight saving (see table below).
Solar time
> 1:00pm
12:40 1:00pm
12:20 –
12:40pm
12:00 –
12:20pm
Solar time
< 12:00pm
Strong
daylight saving
effect
Moderate
daylight saving
effect
Neutral
daylight saving
effect
No
daylight saving
effect
Negative
daylight saving
effect
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Lies outside of
correct time
zone
Lies in western
part of correct
time zone
Lies in central
part of correct
time zone
Lies in eastern
part of correct
time zone
Lies outside of
correct time
zone
The controversy in Indiana is therefore not related to two time zones but
rather the effect that daylight saving has on a region that is already situated in
the western part of its time zone.
It would appear that there are no issues in Indiana regarding two time zones. The
western counties are actually requesting to move to a different time zone from
the majority of the state. The residents of western Indiana would rather live in
the correct time zone which gives them a solar time that allows them to utilize
the daylight hours rather than have one time zone across the whole state.
In other parts of the world any inconvenience of having two time zones in one
state is easily adapted to and accommodated.
A regional daylight saving researcher we know has lived in the central part of
British Columbia for five years. He was not aware of any issues, problems or
controversy surrounding the two time zones in the province. It is such a nonissue that most residents are hardly even aware of the fact that British Columbia
has two time zones. Half of the provinces in Canada have two time zones.
Twelve of the larger states in the USA ranging from Florida to Oregon have two
time zones. The Florida panhandle (a region of 200km by 60km representing less
than 10% of the land area of Florida) is in a different time zone to the rest of the
state. Although the state capital is only 75km to the east of this region, the
residents of that region have decided that the advantages of being in the correct
time zone outweigh the disadvantages of being in a different time zone to the
capital and the rest of the state. Tennessee and Kentucky, unable to fit into one
of the existing time zones without skewing their mean solar time band to one side
or the other, have elected to have two time zones. The states are divided almost
exactly in half by the time zone line. The states could have fitted into a single
time zone with a half hour time difference to the states around them, but two
time zones is the preferred option.
It should be noted that the two time zones in Florida were responsible
for some of the confusion that occurred on the night of the 2000 US
Presidential election. The television networks called Florida for Gore after the
polls closed in the Florida peninsula. However when they realized that the polls
had not yet closed in the Florida panhandle, a predominantly pro-Bush region,
they retracted the call and called Florida for Bush instead. It took another three
weeks of legal wrangling to decide who had won Florida and therefore the
Presidential election, but this was not related to the fact that Florida has two time
zones.
There may be issues and controversies that we’re not aware of. It may be
helpful to contact the state governments, local county governments and
newspapers in the regions adjacent to the time zone line to see if there are local
issues.
The argument that two time zones would shift a Queensland/NSW problem to an
intrastate problem has some merit but is insignificant when compared to the
lifestyle, tourism, energy and road safety benefits that the people in SEQ would
immediately have. There is a common misconception (was often reiterated by
Premier Beattie) that the business community is the prime mover for SEQ to
adopt daylight saving. It is in fact the people of southeastern Queensland, most
of whom do not care what the time is in Sydney or Melbourne. The business
community in SEQ wants daylight saving while the business community
in the rest of Queensland is against it. There are surely many businesses
outside of SEQ that deal directly with Sydney and Melbourne during the
summer months? The business communities simply reflect the view of the
majority of residents in their respective regions.
Peter Beattie often stated that with modern communication it should not matter
that Brisbane is in a different time zone to Sydney and Melbourne during the
summer months. He is correct. In the same way it should not matter if Brisbane
was in a different time zone to Cairns, Mackay or Mount Isa. One time zone for
Queensland business may be convenient but it is not essential.
Daylight saving on the other hand is divisive and controversial around
the world. This is due to the fact that residents in the western part of a time
zone do not like their solar time shifted to later than 1:30pm irrespective of
latitude. This is even more so at low latitudes as would occur in NWQ.
Moving SEQ into a different time zone is not in fact implementing
daylight saving in SEQ (see table above). It simply shifts SEQ into its correct
time zone with a solar time of 12:45pm. This negates any argument that daylight
saving is inappropriate for SEQ, as a region can only be considered to have
daylight saving if its solar time is shifted to later than 1:00pm with daylight
saving eg Melbourne 1:25pm, Adelaide 1:20pm and Perth 1:20pm. Sydney’s solar
time shifts to 1:00pm and it could be argued that Sydney (and coastal NSW with
a shift to 12:45pm -1:00pm) is simply being shifted to its correct time zone which
accounts for the strong support for daylight saving in that region. NSW outside of
that region shifts to a solar time of 1:00pm – 1:50pm and this accounts for the
strong opposition to daylight saving in that region.
We think therefore that the Premier and the Queensland Government can
be reassured that the implementation of two time zones in Queensland is
unlikely to result in any major long term problems or controversy. There
may well be some initial resistance and complaints related to individual rather
than general issues but this is likely to be far less than the current controversy
that statewide daylight saving (or the lack thereof) is generating.