Some 50% of AA members support the idea of cars driving along motorway hard shoulders to ease congestion at busy times, an idea piloted in the West Midlands.
But almost three in five of the 12,000 members polled are against a plan to charge solo drivers for using hard shoulder lanes.
Some 29% were opposed to the idea of "hard shoulder running" which has been trialled on part of the M42.
Government plans announced last month proposed making more use of hard shoulder running on English motorways.
Most opposition to this from AA members polled was from those aged over 65, of whom 38% were against the idea. Most support (56%) came from the 18-24 year age group.
The Government is also considering the introduction of pay lanes on motorways. These lanes would either be additional ones to ease congestion or high-occupancy vehicle lanes that drivers could be charged to use if they are on their own.
The poll, by the AA in association with Populus, showed 53% opposing new pay lanes (a third were strongly opposed) and 58% opposed to paying a toll to use a car share lane when alone (38% were strongly opposed).
AA president Edmund King said: "It is quite controversial to improve motorway capacity by removing the hard shoulder which is widely regarded as a major safety feature that contributes to Britain's good safety record on motorways.
"However, the active traffic management pilot on the M42 has shown that schemes like this can dramatically improve traffic flow, journey time reliability and retain safety levels."
He continued: "The Government will need to tread carefully on its future motorway policy as our research shows that people want improvements but not at additional cost."
