Time zones eking their way into popular media again… CNN reports tonight that officials at the US Department of Transportation are working on translating their official time zone boundaries (described in regulatory texts) into the form of an official map, after — gasp! — "investigators found no single map accurately showing the boundaries nationwide", along with several inconsistencies on their own websites. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/22/politics/time-zone-map-transportation-departm... Of course, beneath the surface, this was just one finding from a 28-page report published by the DoT's Office of Inspector General on Tuesday: DOT Can Improve Processes for Evaluating the Impact of Time Zone Changes and Promoting Uniform Time Observance, 2022-09-20 https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/DOT%20Time%20Zone%20Final%20Repo... Among the other major findings of the report are that DoT is "responsible for evaluating whether requests to change time zones serve the convenience of commerce," but lacks "written guidance for how…officials should validate the information provided by petitioners" when a time zone change is proposed, making it difficult to address the potential impacts associated with a change. The report recommended "evaluat[ing] the relevance of the convenience of commerce questions" developed to weigh such considerations, and updating the questions, if necessary, to "reflect modern commerce-related impacts of time zone changes". And while DoT finds it "has no role in DST exemptions, …it is responsible for fostering and promoting uniform time observance, including DST", but again lacks "processes for tracking or monitoring localities" whose observances deviate from those assigned. The absence of an "official repository of detailed maps" was found to be limiting the DoT's ability to monitor "non-uniform time observance" as well as the public's ability to identify it. A note in an appendix further points out that a portion of the official Central–Mountain time zone boundary through Stanley County, South Dakota (near Pierre) refers to a railway river crossing… and that the railway went out of business in 1995. -- Tim Parenti