Mmmmmm, pork.

Yesterday President George W. Bush signed into law a transportation bill worth some $286 billion, of which $24 billion will go to fund 6,371 special pet projects for Congressional districts both Democratic and Republican. Any opinions on Congressional pork notwithstanding, we here at DCist were curious — What did the District reap in this astounding windfall of taxpayer funds?

Not much. If California and Illinois got most of the pig themselves (545 earmarks and 330 earmarks, respectively, worth almost $4 billion), the District got what was left of the tail after everyone else took their share — seven earmarks, worth $147 million. Though the District’s pittance is worth more, monetarily speaking, than those of Arizona, New Hampshire, Wyoming, and the U.S. Territories, we ranked dead last in the number of projects the federal government would fund, according to analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

That being said, District residents can be proud that the pork will be used for worthy projects — not to say that billion dollar bridges named after the congressman who authored the legislation aren’t worth it — such as bike lanes, bridge work, and highway improvements. The region also benefitted from $100 million set aside for the purchase of 52 new rail-cars for Metro. Then again, of all the projects that had to be cut to spare the bill from Bush’s veto, it was $400 million for much-needed work on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that was unceremoniously dumped for the sake of, ummm, fiscal responsibility.

Virginia fared pretty well, with 152 projects worth $562 million, while Maryland took in $382 million for 104 projects. The award for biggest per capita porker, though, went to Alaska (surprise, surprise), which took in some $941 million — $1,501.39 per person. You lucky bastards!