Exactly, the PATH being a commuter rail first throws a lot of stuff for loops when it's not during that time.

It's not the most convenient and gets a bit annoying when you hit the bad hours and constantly have to anticipate and factor in that your en route time will account for waiting for 35+ mins for the PATH.

And that's not even factoring added time that can be attributed to PATH stations closed/skipped, lines closed, maintenance, accidents etc that can turn waits into a bigger hurdle.

Also if you got friends returning back to different parts of NYC from JC, nobody likes to have things be a science project of having that longer wait that can throw their entire trip for a loop because of how they weren't moving for 40 some odd minutes. Just because the PATH runs up near lines in Manhattan doesn't necessarily mean it is convenient for everyone's route back home when they already got other transfers to worry about.

I used to work deep in Bed Stuy and Ridgewood at off hours from Journal Square and the final leg with the PATH was always the biggest pain point in either direction with stuff because there wasn't really any backup plans in the event something went wrong.

I'm not gonna argue that the MTA is somehow immune to similar issues but when you're trying to get back to or leave Jersey City, your options are severely limited in the event something is taking too much time or went wrong; are you really saving much money when you're defaulting to the 50+ dollar cab ride back home when you just wanna get back across river?

I don't mean this as any disrespect for people's social lives but whenever these discussions on this sub often come up, I'm forever reminded of that one post from a few months back where a majority of people responding said how they pretty much only go into NYC for work things and light socializing(if at all), and it was pretty telling why so many people on here don't think it's that bad because they sparingly ever deal with the PATH when it is at its most inconvenient.