Instrument panel gauges don't work sometimes.

The past several months, sometimes my 1996 New Yorker instrument panel gauges will stay at zero when the engine is started. This happens now about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time everything works fine.
Sometimes I can cut the engine off and restart it and everything will be fine and then sometimes that doesn't resolve the gauge issue. Other electrical things (radio, lights, windows, door lock, etc) work fine when the gauges (fuel, temp, tachometer, speedometer) don't. I had new battery clamps installed several months and also replaced the body control module and saw no change.
When I have this problem, the engine will start, I can drive it forward and backwards but it will not shift out of 1st gear going forward. The problem usually goes away after driving a short distance - usually less than a block. When the problem clears up after driving a short distance, the air bag light will come on and stay on. Also, this problem has occurred a few times while driving down the road - the gauges will go to zero and the transmission will downshift to 1st gear - this only happens for a second or two so haven't had to drive any distance in 1st gear. Needless to say, this can rather unnerving.
Could a bad ignition switch be causing this and/or what else might be causing this problem?
I need this to be a reliable car as I drive it to/from work about 50 miles a day.