L.A.-area commuters are getting some encouraging news from an study of traffic congestion released on Monday unlike in most major cities, it’s actually improving here.

The study by the Texas Transportation Institute shows that the typical Los Angeles area commuter spent 93 hours a year stuck in traffic during 2003, down from 98 hours in 2002 and 113 hours a year in 1993.

Among other major metropolitan areas, only Detroit registered a drop in congestion during the last 10 years, though that decrease coincided with a drop in population. L.A’s population has grown.

Despite the improvement, the delays have a total economic cost of $10.7 billion to L.A. area commuters, when wasted fuel and other expenses are factored in.

And L.A.’s streets and freeways are still far more congested than other major metropolitan regions. In the Bay Area, the annual wait is 72 hours delay per commuter per year. Atlanta (67 hours delay), Houston (63 hours), Chicago (58 hours) and even New York (51 hours) have lower waits.