You've probably seen MTA workers... or wait... have you?

They tend to be tucked away in their little booths, some of them helpful, others, well, not so much.

Just yesterday we tried to talk through one of those old-school boxes to get some info on a train... yeah, it didn't go over well. We're pretty sure we heard "sea vacay" when they were saying "C train" and we've caught more than one worker dozing off in there during the day. 

Man, we could really use a vacay now that we think about it. And a nap. 

In an attempt to improve our daily commutes, the MTA is negotiating to give workers a new title, "Customer Service Ambassadors," to keep us in the loop about when on Earth this L train is supposed to show up.

The new title would include new duties, like roaming around the stations and helping us to better understand delays and issues, which let's be honest, there are quite a few. 

[anad]

But it ain't so bad, right? Back in the old days (okay, so like before 2000), the MTA ran on tokens, so at least we got that going for us. And the MTA is currently looking for ways to further speed up our commutes with digitized and automated phone payments. 

Yippy!

The switch from booth people to out-in-the-open people is all part of MTA Chairman Joe Lhota's Subway Action Plan, which seeks to handle questions, complaints, and help us get from point A to point B a heck of a lot easier. 

The first test run of the MTA Ambassadors went down recently with the R train after a six-month renovation period. The workers walked around and gave us updates on what was new with the station and even pointed us to the new artwork. 

We're kind of into it.

Like some kind of helpful tour guide to get us through the hellish landscape that can be the NYC subway system.  

But not everybody is as into it as we are. 

Several reps of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 believe that the MTA is actually just trying to combine jobs of station agent and platform controller into a single title. However, Local 100 spokesman Pete Donohue has promised pay bumps for those willing to take on the new job description as a safeguard against layoffs. 

Ambassadors can look forward to new uniforms too: yellow and black polos to spiff up the joint this month when they roam the platforms looking for all us tourists and lost souls to assist. 

[via Daily News[Feature Image Courtesy New York Daily News] ]