Modern Standard Daylight Time: An Overdue Solution

As a nation, we prefer to keep our clocks ahead of the sun rather than behind it. The westward asymetry of our timezones and the extended use of daylight saving time is evidence of this. If we think its later than it really is, then getting up early is apparently easier. Some may even propose going to year round DST to avoid the hassle of changing our clocks twice a year. However, this would result in western regions such as Utah, Texas, and Indiana having extremely late sunrises in the winter, which can be a hazard, especially for children going to school on those winter mornings. A better solution would be to adjust the time zone boundaries such that the governing meridians become the eastern boundaries of their respective time zones rather than located in the center of them. When the sun crosses into a timezone, it would be noon, when it crosses out, it would be 1pm. This would standardize the time so that the clock is always ahead of the sun, but not more than about an hour, providing for relatively later afternoon daylight without extremely late sunrises. There would no longer be a need to change to DST. This would maximize human activity during daylight hours without having to ever change our clocks. In order to avoid interference with commerce and transportation, the states through which the governing meridians pass could propose how the timezone boundaries should pass through their state. The people of these states should have the right to determine what time it will be throughout their state. The department of transportation (which has regulated time zone boundaries in the past) could then determine the boundaries based on the states' proposals in order to avoid interference with commerce and transportation throughout the nation. Some changes may affect neighboring states in order to keep metropolitan areas all on the same time. The changes may seem strange to some at first, but they will be easier to get used to than changing our clocks twice a year. This new and much more appropriate time keeping system could be called Modern Standard Daylight Time. Modern because it is more appropriate for our modern lifestyle. The time zone boundaries were established in 1883 by the railroads and have changed very little since. Daylight time was introduced as a poor temporary remedy for the outdated time zones as our lifestyle changed in the 20th century. Standard because it will be the same year round and thus be the standard for each time zone. And daylight because the intent is to maximize human activity during daylight hours without ever changing our clocks. So please write your congressmen and women and let them know about this solution that will stop the 40+ years of changing our clocks back and forth.