Time_in_Massachusetts
Time in Massachusetts
Time zone data for this US state
Time in Massachusetts, as in all US states, is regulated by the United States Department of Transportation.[1] Massachusetts is in the Eastern Time Zone (ET) and observes daylight saving time (DST).
Independent of daylight saving time, solar noon on the March equinox is about 12:00 in Western Massachusetts and 11:47 in Nantucket to the east. New England, which includes Massachusetts, is one of the few areas in the United States where solar noon is before noon.
In 2016, a committee in the state was formed to consider having Massachusetts adopt Atlantic Standard Time year round to prevent sunsets from occurring before 16:30 and eliminate the need to change clocks at the beginning and end of daylight saving time.[3] The committee submitted its report to the state legislature in November 2017, recommending the move "under certain circumstances".[4] If passed, Massachusetts would use Atlantic Standard Time all year round without daylight saving time. Other New England states are looking into doing the same.