[tzs]

Unless you can also convince businesses and schools to open later in the winter, permanent DST is terrible then at higher latitudes.

In the Seattle area, for instance, under permanent DST sunrise could be as late as a few minutes before 9 AM. That puts a lot of people out traveling as much as 2 hours before sunrise.

[ikeyany]

How is that any worse than what you have now, where no one gets to see the sun after work until March?

[tzs]

Morning tends to be more concentrated. You've got people going to work, kids walking or biking to school, people taking their dogs out for the first walk of the day, deliveries starting, people heading out to shop for things they'll need that day, and things like that.

Evening isn't as concentrated, because there is much more variation in when people come back than in when they go out.

If we only can do one of them in the light, morning probably makes the most sense because of it having more traffic volume and more traffic diversity.

[ikeyany]

Is it actually true that 6:30am is more concentrated than 5:30pm?

[mikestew]

If those same folks leave work at six in the evening, they’re travelling two hours after sunset. Same difference. Fact of the matter is, there isn’t eight hours of daylight in winter in Seattle. You’ll spend time in the dark before or after work one way or another.

[dabbledash]

Better for the sun to rise after 8 than set before 5.

[gpvos]

No. For our circadian rhythm, it's more important that the sun rises early enough in the morning. The moment when it sets has less impact.

Human society has historically been active after dark for social activities, like sitting around camp fires etc. Not so much early in the morning before the dark ends. We should adapt to what is natural for us humans, which is getting up around sunrise and possibly staying up after sunset. "Daylight Saving Time" is a move in the wrong direction. Let's at least stick to standard time.

[dabbledash]

I think people just have different set schedules. I have no problem being up before sunrise, and hate having no daylight in the evening. It seems many people feel similarly.

[gpvos]

Well, it's the conclusion I got from the things sleep researchers write.