Port Authority merges reels and rails with DVDs

Running late to work and have a DVD to return?

If that DVD was rented from Port Authority,… Running late to work and have a DVD to return?

If that DVD was rented from Port Authority, there’s no problem.

The transit company recently unveiled a new vending machine in the Steel Plaza T-Station that will allow riders to rent DVDs and return them in what Port Authority spokesperson Bob Grove called “a very convenient location.”

Grove said the vending machine, called DVDPlay, is the latest amenity Port Authority has offered it customers. The first — Cool Beans Down Under, a coffee shop also located in the Steel Plaza Station — has been very successful, leading Port Authority to extend its contract for an additional five years, Grove said. He added that, while it is too early to know what success DVDPlay will have, he hopes it will be just as popular.

“We like to offer flexibility,” he said. “This is good from our perspective, much like Cool Beans. We try and provide as many amenities as possible.”

Located near the outbound escalators on the upper level of the Plaza, the machine is located in a heavily traveled area. Grove said the location allows people who are going home for the evening to stop and rent a DVD easily, and return it the next time they pass the machine.

Using touchscreen technology, patrons can browse through about 100 different titles, including several duplicate copies of more popular DVDs. All rentals must be paid for with credit or debit cards, and each DVD costs $1.99 per day until it is returned. A special weekend price is available for DVDs rented on Friday or Saturday, in which patrons pay $3.49 to keep the movie until Monday.

“We offer that special because of the decrease in transit movement on the weekends,” Grove said.

Like several of Port Authority’s other recent projects, DVDPlay will not affect the transit system’s budget problems. Grove said Port Authority is always looking for additional entrepreneurs who will open kiosks in the plazas and offer whatever they can to customers.

He mentioned that there has been interest from a few food companies to open a venue at Steel Plaza Station, but that the subway station is not constructed with such operations in mind.

“Any food venue would need to cook off-site,” he added, mentioning that vendors similar to the food carts in Oakland would be good matches for the venue.