Once upon a time, budget travelers for whom urgency was not an issue relied on simple transportation via the good-old Greyhound Bus. But in today’s world of discount airlines, ridesharing and even discount bus companies, Greyhound has fallen behind.

FirstGroup Plc, a British company that purchased Greyhound in 2007, found that, not only are they barely able to chip away at the debt they inherited since the purchase, but customer retention has been abysmal thanks to cheaper airfare, increased route options by plane and challenges with immigration control on the border with Mexico. Greyhound’s fleet of buses are in desperate need of maintenance and repair, and a decrease in drivers caused salary demands to increase.

Talks have begun regarding FirstGroup’s interest in selling the bus company, the price of which would be nowhere near their original purchase price in 2007. After saying goodbye to former CEO Tim O’Toole and suffering an annual loss of $395 million, the future for the silver carrier hangs in the balance of travel and transportation trends.