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MEXICO CITY — Alejandra Olvera said she's been a taxi victim twice.

Fifteen years ago, she said, she was a passenger when a taxi driver pulled into a dark industrial district and tried to grope her before she pushed him away and escaped.

Now, as one of a handful of female taxi drivers in this sprawling megalopolis of 23 million, Olvera recently pulled over for a male passenger. He gruffly waved her on, telling her no female would drive him.

"It made me laugh," Olvera said. "Mexico is such a macho country."

Olvera isn't Mexico City's first female taxi driver, but her stories help explain why some Mexico City lawmakers are proposing a new all-woman taxi service. Their belief: Women are safer with drivers and passengers of the same sex.

The capital's government estimated that at least 400 women last year were assaulted in taxis. But many women don't report assaults, let alone offensive ogling or flagrant flirtation. It's not the first time that Mexico City has made moves to safeguard women: Certain platforms and cars in Mexico City's subway system are reserved for women and children and have been for decades. And Mexico City isn't the first city with such a service: A private venture in London known as Ladies Taxi offers gender-exclusive rides.

But the proposed municipal intervention underscores the concern about taxi safety in a capital city where rising crime has prompted official warnings for people to steer clear of taxis cruising the streets for riders.

Amid high-profile liberal changes here such as the approval of gay civil unions and first-trimester abortions, lawmakers hail the all-female taxi service as a step in empowering women in Mexico's overwhelmingly male culture. There are only about 70 or so registered female taxi drivers in Mexico City, a drop in a sea of 104,000 registered taxi drivers.

Under the proposal by Mexico City Assemblyman Humberto Morgan, female drivers would form a loose government-sponsored collective organization that would operate primarily in business corridors with high concentrations of female workers. The drivers would undergo criminal background checks, and their cars would be equipped with radios to connect them directly to police dispatchers.

And instead of the old green-and-white Volkswagen Beetle or the newer red-and-white sedans, each ladies' taxi would be painted pink.

"We need to change the perspectives of transportation here," said Morgan, a member of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). "We need better quality drivers, and, most of all, we need security."