I am the original poster, and I agree that it is not about race. But I am convinced that it is about power and money.

The poorer people in Jersey City just don't have as much pull as the richer people in Hoboken. I am sure that if the situation was reversed, and there was more demand for the Hoboken line than for the JSQ line, they would get more frequent trains assigned to Hoboken.

But we don't have that power in Jersey City, and we also happen to have more black and brown people living here. So it looks bad. And it feels unfair that we often have to board a crowded JSQ train after seeing a sparsely occupied Hoboken train pass by, whatever the reason for that is.

BTW, I am shocked to learn from JCbiscuit and ianmac47 that the reason JSQ often smells like garbage is that a garbage-loaded train is allowed to linger nearby. Who is responsible for that??

I am new here. I have lived in the Journal Square area for more than 5 years. I take the PATH everyday for work in Manhattan. I have come to get something off my chest.

The other day I overheard a (white) guy tell a coworker on the train to JSQ that he once asked a PATH conductor why the Hoboken trains were always less full than the JSQ trains. The response from the conductor? "Because white people live in Hoboken."

I prefer to believe that is not the true reason. But, empirically speaking, more people take the JSQ line than the Hoboken line, and there should be more frequent trains in the JSQ line in order to keep up with the additional passengers in a proportional manner.

Am I the only one who thinks so?

P.S. Why can't we have trash cans on PATH stations? And why do they think it is acceptable for the JSQ station to smell like garbage?