With the increasing complexity of urban transportation systems, reliance solely on engineering-based metrics has become insufficient for promoting active travel, and travel satisfaction has emerged as a critical psychological determinant. While most Iranian studies have predominantly focused on objective dimensions of the built environment, this study develops and tests a comprehensive conceptual model to analyze the simultaneous roles of objective and perceived environmental attributes, travel attitudes, mode choice, and travel satisfaction in the city of Urmia. The methodological innovation lies in the application of a two stage PLS SEM approach to evaluate the feedback pathway from satisfaction to attitudes, enabling the causal mechanism through which travel experience shapes subsequent attitudes to be tested within a cross-sectional framework. The findings indicate that the built environment influences mode choice indirectly through environmental perceptions and attitudes. Moreover, the direct effect of mode choice on satisfaction decreases substantially after controlling for socio-economic status, suggesting that reported satisfaction with certain modes reflects structural constraints and unequal travel opportunities rather than the intrinsic qualities of the modes themselves. In contrast, a strong satisfaction–attitude feedback path is observed, demonstrating that satisfying travel experiences reinforce favorable attitudes and create a cyclical relationship between experience, attitude, and behavior. Taken together, these results highlight that transitioning toward sustainable urban mobility in Iranian cities requires concurrent attention to perceived environmental quality, actual travel experience, and the alleviation of structural constraints; physical interventions will be effective only if accompanied by enhancements to the experiential and perceptual dimensions of travel.