Search Slow: Find Fast

A new study led by Prof. Shlomo Havlin and Dr. Orr Levi from Bar-Ilan University and Qiuyue Li and Daqing Li, analyzed 2.3 billion GPS data points from nearly 40,000 taxi drivers in major global cities and uncovered a surprising rule of success in human search behavior: slower is faster.

While animals in nature have long been studied for the way they search for food, human search strategies in complex real-world environments, like cities, have remained a mystery. The BIU team set out to change that.

What Happens When Taxi Drivers Go “Hunting”?

Just like predators track prey, taxi drivers spend a large part of their day searching, but the “targets” are passengers. Researchers distinguished between:

• Trip time: driving with passengers
• Search time: traveling without passengers when hunting for the next fare

Efficiency was measured as the percentage of the driver’s day spent earning money, time and distance where paying passengers were onboard.

The result is a major discovery:

Drivers who take their time searching for passengers make more money.

Efficient drivers:

• Drive at lower speeds during the search phase
• Make more frequent short-distance turns
• Consistently outperform peers day after day

In fact, efficiency appears to be a personal trait:
Drivers who perform well once tend to remain efficient across multiple days.

The Smartest Strategy Is… Counterintuitive

Only about 10% of drivers naturally adopt the most efficient approach, yet they take home up to 20% more income than the average driver.

Slowing down allows them to:

• Notice passengers who might be missed at high speed
• Adapt direction quickly
• Pay closer attention to their immediate environment

While many drivers rush through dense areas hoping to cover more ground, those who adopt a more patient approach ultimately achieve better results. They optimize their routes and maximize earnings in complex urban environments.

Why Slower Often Wins in a Fast World

This study challenges assumptions about success in high-demand situations. It reveals that fast is not always efficient, and that slow, thoughtful searching can create better outcomes.

This principle may extend far beyond taxi ranks. Whether searching for:

• Jobs
• Opportunities in business
• Information on the internet
• Customers in a competitive market

…deliberate and focused effort often yields better results than speed alone.

The broader implications touch fields such as:

• Behavioral economics
• Urban mobility
• Artificial intelligence
• Psychology and cognition

It underscores the importance of attention, patience, and adaptability in environments full of uncertainty and competition.

Bar-Ilan University Leading Global Insight

This research, conducted in collaboration with partners in China, demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary science, connecting human mobility, complex systems physics, and real-world decision-making.

It positions Bar-Ilan University at the forefront of revealing the hidden logic behind how humans move, search, and succeed.