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Bozeman honors Ralph Zimmer with 'Key to City' for 40+ years of service

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BOZEMAN — Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham has posthumously awarded the city's highest honor—a key to the city—to longtime resident Ralph Zimmer. For over four decades, Zimmer dedicated himself to citizen leadership roles focused on bicycle and pedestrian safety across city, county, and state levels.

"Ralph was a tireless advocate for safety throughout his more than 40 years of service," Cunningham said.

"He embodied the concepts of citizen service, gracious leadership, public engagement and practical problem-solving throughout his volunteer service to the City of Bozeman. I will never forget his contributions and how he pushed the City towards improving safety for all."

Zimmer grew up in Colorado and earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Traffic Engineering from Purdue University. His career included positions at the Federal Highway Administration and Montana State University before an eye disease forced his early retirement in 1999, resulting in blindness.

Despite his disability, Zimmer's commitment to safety remained unwavering. He led the Bozeman Area Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee, established through an interlocal agreement between the Bozeman School District, Gallatin County, and the City of Bozeman in 1976. Joining shortly after in 1977, Zimmer served until the committee's consolidation into the Transportation Board in 2021.

Zimmer's involvement extended to the Gallatin Alliance for Pathways, which promotes multimodal transportation facilities throughout the Gallatin Valley. For more than forty years, he served on the Bozeman Transportation Coordinator Committee and participated in the Triangle Planning Coordinating Committee.

Beyond committee work, Zimmer devoted decades to advocating before City Commission, County Commission, State Transportation Commission, and State Legislature Committees, consistently championing bicycle and pedestrian safety initiatives.

Within traffic safety communities, Zimmer gained widespread recognition and numerous accolades. He became the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals and received the James L. Pline Award from the Intermountain Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. In 2019, MSU's College of Engineering honored him with a Distinguished Faculty Award.

"The Key to the City is the highest award the City of Bozeman can bestow upon a citizen. We are grateful for Ralph Zimmer's passionate advocacy for safer streets, sidewalks, and pathways," Cunningham said.