This study examines sustainable mobility intention in a uni- versity population, based on an online survey of 2,192 respondents (1,499 students and 693 staff). Drawing on the Rubicon Model of Action Phases and the Action-Phase Model of Developmental Regulation, we applied Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to ex- amine how sustainable mobility intention is associated with the cogni- tive salience of perceived barriers and transport modality during the pre-actional phase Results show that stronger sustainable commuting intentions are asso- ciated with greater cognitive salience of specific barriers, particularly those related to commute time, cost, distance, and infrastructure lim- itations—indicating intensified appraisal during the pre-actional phase. The association between intention and transport modality was limited to students. These findings suggest that interventions targeting the pre-actional phase should focus on awareness, informational support, and reducing per- ceived constraints, while acknowledging that different barriers may trig- ger primary or secondary control strategies in goal pursuit.