"Abstract: This report examines the state of the practice in the development and use of statewide transportation improvement programs (STIPs) by state departments of transportation (State DOTs). It includes the results of a scan of all 52 publicly-available STIPs as of January 2014, a more detailed analysis of 14 STIPs which were selected as a group representing varying styles and techniques, and a discussion of three general descriptive models for understanding how ways in which State DOTs develop and use STIPs in the statewide transportation planning process both to meet regulatory requirements and to support broad agency goals such as communicating information to the public and performance-based planning and programming. The report features numerous illustrative examples of STIP practices from the 14 STIPs selected for more detailed analysis and summarizes potential future advancements in STIPs as “food for thought” in a theoretical “Enhanced STIP” model."--Technical report documentation page.