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If the change were to be to daylight savings time all year (i.e. Central Standard Time) then there would be a two hour shift in time every time anyone crosses the border from New Mexico into Arizona. So, if the time were to be the same all year (which I am in favor of) I would instead favor Mountain Standard Time, just as Arizona has.
With that said, should this be the final outcome, then you would have a time change of two hours going into the Texas Panhandle, or Juarez from Sunland Park, from the middle of March to the end of October.
If the change were to be to daylight savings time all year (i.e. Central Standard Time) then there would be a two hour shift in time every time anyone crosses the border from New Mexico into Arizona. So, if the time were to be the same all year (which I am in favor of) I would instead favor Mountain Standard Time, just as Arizona has.
With that said, should this be the final outcome, then you would have a time change of two hours going into the Texas Panhandle, or Juarez from Sunland Park, from the middle of March to the end of October.
That is why I think a near 50:50 geographic split makes sense, with the western half observing Mountain Standard Time year-round and the eastern half observing Mountain Daylight Time (Central Standard Time) year-round.
What folks are missing about this bill is that it wouldn't just eliminate the time change -- it would put NM on CENTRAL time rather than MOUNTAIN time. So, while Arizona has eliminated the clock change and stays on MOUNTAIN standard time all year, NM would be on CENTRAL standard time all year. It just doesn't make any sense, because Texas still changes time. Which means NM will be on the same time as TX half of the year and a different time from everyone else the other half of the year.
If the goal is to be more like Texas (which always seems to be a goal of some of the eastern legislators), just go whole-hog and say you want to just change NM to the Central time zone, DST and all. It would be more honest. Otherwise, with the proposed bill as-is:
From November to March, it would be 10am in Amarillo, 10AM in Albuquerque, 9AM in Denver and 9AM in Phoenix. From March to November, it would be 11AM in Amarillo, 10AM in Albuquerque, 10AM in Denver and 9AM in Phoenix.
It would still have to be approved by the Federal DOT, anyway. And their approval is based on whether the change is necessary for "the convenience of commerce".
If New Mexico were to ever change to Central Time, you could drive on I-10 from the Apalachicola River in Florida to the New Mexico-Arizona border, just west of Lordsburg, or a total of 1660 miles, and be in one time zone, save for a brief drive through Hudspeth County Texas and El Paso, when one would temporarily enter Mountain Time.
so far the bill hasn't gone anywhere due to strong opposition in Western NM.
I've seen no evidence of this. People in western NM presumably hate the time change as much as the rest of us. Things fail to get voted on all the time- it doesn't always require an agenda.
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Originally Posted by Pink Jazz
Yep, and Albuquerque has stronger economic ties with Arizona than it does with Texas
I fail to see how this is true. Most flied-to city from Albuquerque? Dallas (remember to count both airports).
Quote:
Senator Cliff Pirtle is from Roswell, so of course he would favor permanent DST because his part of the state is closer geographically and economically to Texas, thus he introduced the bill for the benefit of Eastern NM while ignoring the interests of the western part of the state.
That's complete nonsense. Roswell is not a might-as-well-be-in-Texas city like Hobbs or perhaps even Clovis is. Roswell is 3 hours away from 4 major metros- Albuquerque, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa, and El Paso. Albuquerque is by far the most popular destination, as popular as the three others combined.
Economic ties to Texas are pretty limp as well. There's nothing immediately on the other side of the border that ties to Roswell. Local TV in Roswell is Albuquerque-based.
With a change to "permanent DST", NM would still be off from most of Texas during the winter months.
Maybe senator Pirtle just has a popular idea and doesn't need to disregard some theoretical "interests" of the "western part of the state" to want to do the right thing. The Navajo nation does their own thing when it comes to DST. You already have to change your clock when traveling into Arizona for most of the year already.
As far as the populated parts of the state, an overwhelming interest might include not having to change clocks twice a year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike0421
If the change were to be to daylight savings time all year (i.e. Central Standard Time) then there would be a two hour shift in time every time anyone crosses the border from New Mexico into Arizona.
One hour. Same as now, except at that point it would be consistent.
I fail to see how this is true. Most flied-to city from Albuquerque? Dallas (remember to count both airports).
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Also remember to consider O&D vs. connecting traffic. When it comes to O&D, Phoenix wins. Most ABQ-DFW passengers are connecting in DFW, not staying in Dallas. DAL probably has a somewhat higher O&D percentage, but not enough where Dallas has a higher O&D total than Phoenix.
In fact, in some data tables that I read, as of 2010, Dallas is actually third in O&D from Albuquerque behind Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Also remember to consider O&D vs. connecting traffic. When it comes to O&D, Phoenix wins. Most ABQ-DFW passengers are connecting in DFW, not staying in Dallas. DAL probably has a somewhat higher O&D percentage, but not enough where Dallas has a higher O&D total than Phoenix.
In fact, in some data tables that I read, as of 2010, Dallas is actually third in O&D from Albuquerque behind Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Very unscientifically, just checking today's departures:
Dallas 19
Houston 17
LA 16
Denver 11
Phoenix 10
Chicago 8
Very unscientifically, just checking today's departures:
Dallas 19
Houston 17
LA 16
Denver 11
Phoenix 10
Chicago 8
Very unscientific for sure, since HOU actually ranks eighth in total number of passengers, and IAH isn't even in the top 10 (considering the latter is almost entirely regional jets except for some seasonal mainline service). O&D passengers is the true indicator of economic ties between cities, and both Phoenix and Los Angeles beat Dallas in that regard.
Very unscientific for sure, since HOU actually ranks eighth in total number of passengers, and IAH isn't even in the top 10 (considering the latter is almost entirely regional jets except for some seasonal mainline service). O&D passengers is the true indicator of economic ties between cities, and both Phoenix and Los Angeles beat Dallas in that regard.
In fact in 2010, Los Angeles was the #1 O&D destination from Albuquerque, with Phoenix a close second (go to page 24 for details).
That's one hell of a PDF file! Great find and a great read!
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