The DOT Solves Indiana's Time Dilemma (Circa 1968)

In the 1960's then Gov. Branigan, in an attempt to deal with Indiana’s time zone problem, petitioned the federal Department of Transportation to move Indiana to the Central Time Zone. The solution was “Indiana Time”, as spelled out in the following letter to Sen. Birch Bayh:

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590

Honorable Birch Bayh

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Bayh:

This will confirm the several conferences we have had with you and members of your staff for the purpose of clarifying the Department’s position on the Indiana time situation and identifying an ultimate solution.

Briefly stated, the present difficulties stem from a number of reasons:

1. As you are aware, there is pending before the Department an administrative proceeding to determine what time zone boundary alignment would best suit the needs of commerce and the people of Indiana. However, because of the inconclusive nature of the information thus far presented to the Department in the proceeding, the Department does not believe it is in a position to make a final administrative determination at this time.

2. The historical patterns of time observance in Indiana tentatively seem to indicate a preference for eastern standard (‘slow’) time year round in all parts of the state except in 12 counties in the northwest and southwest corners of the state where central standard time is observed in the winter months and central daylight (‘fast’) time is observed in the summer. These 12 counties are: Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Jasper, Newton, Gibson, Pike, Spencer, Warrick, Vanderburgh, and Posey.

3. The Uniform Time Act makes the application of daylight (‘fast’) time automatic throughout each state from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, unless the state legislature exempts the state, in which case standard (‘slow’) time applies all year round in the entire state. The Department of Transportation has no authority to deal with the question of daylight versus standard time. The Indiana legislature has not exempted the state.

4. The Uniform Time Act does not authorize a state having more than one time zone within its boundaries to exempt one time zone area from daylight time while leaving daylight time applicable in the other time zones. However, this would become possible under S. 790, the bill you have introduced in the Congress.[Note, the Uniform Time Act was eventually amended to allow this.]

The Department is most anxious to work with you and others concerned in accommodating to the extent possible within the law, the interests of commerce and the people of Indiana. The discussions we have held with you have been very helpful in emphasizing the desirability of a clear indication of the Department’s policies and the areas where it can prove helpful in finding a durable solution. In response to your questions, we can, therefore, advise you as follows:

1. Enforcement. The Department does not have authority to exempt a state from the Uniform Time Act or alter what is technically the legal time under the Act. For that reason, the Department, in its recent announcement indicated that the technically ‘legal’ time would have to be ascertained by reference to the Uniform Time Act as applied to the existing time zone boundary in the state. (That 1961 boundary runs to the west of the following counties: Elkhart, Kosciusko, Wabash, Grant, Madison, Hamilton, Boone, Hendricks, Morgan, Johnson, Shelby, Decatur, Jennings, Scott, Clark, Floyd and Harrison. All of these counties, and everything to the east of them, are in the eastern time zone).

This clarification was made on the assumption that interstate carriers would follow the technical time pattern. However, it should be noted that the Uniform Time Act authorizes the Department to permit variance from technical time observance by interstate common carriers for reasons of practicability. The Department will consider as an appropriate grounds for variance a carrier’s own bona fide determination that technical time observance will be disruptive to its operations during the pendency of the Department’s administrative proceeding.

The Department’s practice has been to defer consideration of court enforcement actions while (as is the case here) a properly instituted administrative time zone boundary proceeding is pending before the Department. The practice will be followed here.

2. S. 790. As we understand S. 790, it would permit the 12 counties in southwest and northwest Indiana to remain on central time with daylight time in the summer, while the rest of the state could observe eastern standard time year round. On the basis of information now before us and our discussions with you, it appears that S. 790 could be useful in a final resolution of the peculiar situation in Indiana. Accordingly, we have advised the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee of the Department’s Concurrence, should Congress enact the legislation.

3. Final Resolution. The Department is continuing to collect and analyze information in its administrative proceeding in order to be in a position to arrive at the most informed judgment. By the time the Indiana legislature next meets we should have taken final administrative action. This will enable the Indiana legislature to properly consider and vote upon the question of exempting the state from daylight time.

We hope that the above will serve to clarify the Department’s position and indicate our concern for a prompt and sensible solution to this most troublesome problem.

Sincerely, (signed) John E. Robson


In other words, our former exemption from daylight saving time wasn’t the problem, it was (is?) the solution.