[ipdashc]

It is also worth considering that Spirit will charge you an arm and a leg to bring any kind of luggage, while buses and trains are generally pretty lenient with their baggage allowances.

Of course, as I found out recently, sometimes your baggage will just get lost or stolen and there's not much you can do about it. So that's fun. (At least on Amtrak there's a proper checked baggage option for some routes, and the overheads are big enough to put airplane-sized carryons in.)

[ars]

Spirit has lowered prices, and a suitcase is just $30 at least for the flight I'm thinking about.

Even with a suitcase it's still cheaper than a bus.

[ipdashc]

That's true, I guess on some routes their prices aren't too bad. I vaguely recall it being more.

But yeah, it is pretty ridiculous. Like you said, pay the same price as the plane ticket, if not more, for the privilege of getting to wait in rundown station buildings and the excitement of knowing nobody is there to help you if your bus breaks down or just doesn't show. Honestly, I have to imagine that one of the only things propping up Greyhound on routes like those is the fact that you can ride it without ID.