Author: Alexa Gonzalez

Downtown Jacksonville is home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who play at Everbank Stadium. The NFL team brings tourism, community, and liveliness to North Florida. As Jaguars games draw in crowds that average over 69,000 people, the downtown area can become overpopulated and chaotic quickly. In all of the madness, fans are often left stuck in traffic on the way to a game, and by the time they park and make it to their seats, the game has already begun. This can lead fans to take desperate measures to make it to the stadium in time. Two fans, Bailey Estep and Cheyenne Knight, claimed to have been scammed by a man offering rides on a tandem bike from a parking garage to the stadium. “He told us the ride would be $12 for each of us, so $24 in total, and then when the ride ended, he charged us $96. That’s when he revealed to us that he was charging us $12 per person, per minute of the ride,” said Estep. This situation was very stressful for the fans. “We were just trying to make it to the stadium for kickoff, and it was a really high-pressure situation, so we just paid him. I just wish more people knew stuff like this was going on so they knew how to avoid it,” said Knight. A representative from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office commented on the matter, saying, “We recommend using a licensed taxi service or ride-sharing company. A driver should be able to provide proof they are shuttling passengers for commercial use. Remember, always err on the side of caution and report any suspicious activity immediately. If anyone is aware of this happening and feels it is criminal in nature, call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.”