A major change is coming for Metropolitan Transportation Authority station agents, who will now be known as roaming agents.

Clerks who usually sit behind the glass booths are now required to step away from the booth and step closer to commuters. The initiative is the agency's new way of adding more boots on the ground at subway stations and enhancing customer service.

The change will start in early 2023, and the MTA says there will be no layoffs of the current station agents.

The MTA says they're preparing agents with a four-day training program that has already begun. MTA management said they will be out with the new roaming agents for the first weeks of the change to get a better sense of the environments these agents will be working in.

The new program is part of a joint agreement with TWU Local 100. Both groups say it will prevent layoffs due to the use of the OMNY system while also moving the transit system into the future.